FDA mandates banning trans fats by 2018
Canned frosting lovers, prepare to feel slightly less shameful about your secretive midnight indulgences.
On Tuesday, the FDA issued a final decision allotting the food industry a three-year time frame to phase out nearly all partially hydrogenated oils — the main source of trans fat — from foodstuffs that still contain the additive, like microwave popcorn and cake frosting. The move will prevent thousands of fatal heart attacks annually, according to the FDA.
The ruling, which makes good on the Obama administration's pledge to rid the nation of trans fat, rescinds the "generally recognized as safe" or GRAS status for partially hydrogenated oils. Since the 1950s when saturated fats were shunned, partially hydrogenated oils grew in favor for their proclivity to do wonders such as improve "mouth feel" and stabilize food coloring. Yum.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Because there are many alternatives to trans fat, and the industry as a whole has managed to reduce its use by 85 percent, companies that have been slow to remove the additive from their products fear an onslaught of litigation.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Stephanie is an editorial assistant at TheWeek.com. She has previously worked for USA Today and Modern Luxury Media.
-
The toilet roll tax: UK's strange VAT rules
The Explainer 'Mysterious' and 'absurd' tax brought in £168 billion to HMRC last year
By The Week UK Published
-
Why is Tesla stumbling?
In the Spotlight More competition, confusion about the future and a giant pay package for Elon Musk
By Joel Mathis, The Week US Published
-
How Taylor Swift changed copyright negotiations in music
under the radar The success of Taylor's Version rerecordings has put new pressure on record labels
By Theara Coleman, The Week US Published
-
Puffed rice and yoga: inside the collapsed tunnel where Indian workers await rescue
Speed Read Workers trapped in collapsed tunnel are suffering from dysentery and anxiety over their rescue
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
More than 2,000 dead following massive earthquake in Morocco
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
Mexico's next president will almost certainly be its 1st female president
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
North Korea's Kim to visit Putin in eastern Russia to discuss arms sales for Ukraine war, U.S. says
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
Gabon's military leader sworn in following coup in latest African uprising
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
Nobody seems surprised Wagner's Prigozhin died under suspicious circumstances
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
Western mountain climbers allegedly left Pakistani porter to die on K2
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
'Circular saw blades' divide controversial Rio Grande buoys installed by Texas governor
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published