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(HealthNewsDigest.com) – Let me start by saying I am no fan of trans fat and I agreed with the decision to add it to the Nutrition Facts label in 2006. Since then trans fat intake has declined from an average of 4.6 grams a day to about 1 gram in 2012 and the amount continues to go down. This reduction has occurred because of the voluntary reformulation of grocery foods and the changes in recipes used in the restaurants and food services. Companies are still working on eliminating trans fat.
When self-regulation and public education are working why does the federal government have to initiate a ban on all trans fat in our food supply? The FDA is declaring war on an enemy that has been defeated. The ban on trans fat, initiated this month, with a phase out period to June 2018, is unnecessary at this point.
Call me skeptical but one has to wonder if this ban is not a trial balloon for the federal government who may be considering other bans down the road on sugar or salt. Dr. Sonia Angell and Dr. Thomas Frieden, who now work for the federal government, where heavily involved in many of the health initiatives begun under New York City Mayor Bloomberg – the ban on the use of trans fat in restaurants, which passed and the ban on large soda servings, which failed. They believe that the American food supply should default to healthier choices. Individual decision making should be taken out of the equation.
In theory, I have no argument with encouraging everyone to eat better but I am not a fan of regulating what we are allowed to eat. Science evolves. As we learn more, we modify our eating advice based on scientific fact. Regulations and bans are very hard to change and when the government speaks people listen. Listening to the government’s advice, to some degree, caused the problem with trans fat to begin with.
For decades food with trans fat were recommended by the public health community. In the 1980s and 1990s the message was eat less fat, eat less saturated fat. When saturated fats began to appear on the label, people were urged to switch from butter to margarine, a major source of trans fat. Food manufactures embraced solid shortenings and hydrogenated oil to lower the saturated fat in their foods. Today, we clearly understand that all saturated fats are not evil and too much tans fat can increase the risk for heart disease.
The switch in the type of fat we ate had unintended consequences – we all began to eat more trans fat. If companies who still need to produce a flakey pie crust or ice cream sprinkles begin to manipulate fat in other ways, could we wind up with another bad invention that the government bans in 20 years?
Changing the diet of an entire population needs to be done carefully. It is better achieved gradually with public education and incremental changes in food. That has already happened with trans fat. Companies continue to explore ways to reduce and remove trans fat from the few remaining products in which it appears in very small amounts – donuts, frozen pizza, microwave popcorn, cake frosting, refrigerated biscuits, pie crusts and French fries. Note that list. If you stopped eating every one of those foods, you would not be deprived of any essential nutrients needed to keep you healthy. In addition, companies would take notice of falling sales and work to produce those same foods without trans fat. Kellogg, Kraft and ConAgra Foods are all phasing out trans fats. Orville Redenbacher’s popcorn has eliminated partially hydrogenated oil from 90% of its products. All of this was happening before the FDA ban.
Some of the argument about trans fat is that the current labeling allows rounding of values. Foods with less than 0.5 grams of trans fat can be listed as 0 grams. The government could have simply tweaked this regulation and made manufactures list all values for trans fat, regardless of how small. Additionally, hydrogenated oils, the major source of trans fat, must be listed in the ingredient list. If you do not want to feed your children ice cream sprinkles with trans fat, read the ingredient label. Once you have found a trans fat-free brand (without hydrogenated oil) that is the one you will rely on in the future. The initial detective work will only take a few minutes.
An interesting, little known fact is that kosher parve non-dairy creamers and margarines contain trans fat. According to dietitian Beth Warren, MS, RD, CDN, who keep a kosher home, “This is a big deal for the kosher world, because to make foods, such as baked goods, parve, kosher margarine is a main ingredient. The ban may alter the shelf life, flavor and texture of some kosher food products.”
© NRH Nutrition Consultants, Inc.
Jo-Ann Heslin, MA, RD, CDN is a registered dietitian and the author of the nutrition counter series for Pocket Books with sales of more than 8.5 million books.
Look for:
The Diabetes Counter, 5th Ed., 2014
The Fat and Cholesterol Counter, 2014
The Most Complete Food Counter, 3rd ed., 2013
The Calorie Counter, 6th Ed., 2013
The Complete Food Counter, 4th ed., 2012
The Protein Counter, 3rd Ed., 2011
The Ultimate Carbohydrate Counter, 3rd Ed., 2010
The Healthy Wholefoods Counter, 2008
Your Complete Food Counter App: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/your-complete-food-counter/id444558777?mt=8
For more information on Jo-Ann and her books, go to: www.TheNutritionExperts.com.
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