A major study failed to find a link between eating fatty foods such as eggs, chocolate and cream and early deaths from heart disease, stroke or type-2 diabetes.
The research, carried out in Canada and published in the BMJ (British Medical Journal), suggested the risks of eating saturated fats are lower than previously thought.
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The scientist who led the research, Dr Russell de Souza of McMaster University in Ontario, says his findings are not a "green light" to eat more dairy, meat, chocolate or other foods high in saturated fats.
He tells The Independent: "We aren't advocating an increase of the allowance for saturated fats in dietary guidelines, as we don't see evidence that higher limits would be specifically beneficial to health."
While the scientists found no link between fat consumption and contracting heart disease and no link to earlier death overall, they could not "confidently" rule out a link to death from heart disease, the Daily Mail says.
De Souza told The Independent: "We should not ignore stronger and consistent evidence from better-designed studies that eating less saturated fat and more polyunsaturated fat from vegetable oils reduces … the chance of developing or dying from heart disease."
The new research looked at data from 12 previous studies, each involving between 90,000 and 340,000 patients.
Doctors have been telling us to avoid saturated fat for most of the last 40 years – but, increasingly, sugar is getting the blame for the obesity epidemic. In February this year, researchers suggested public health advice had been "misguided".
Professor Iain Broom of Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen said the new research showed it was time for the Government to "grasp the nettle" and change its health advice to Britons.
But Professor Tom Sanders of King's College London pointed out that death rates from cardiovascular disease have fallen in the UK by about 55 per cent since 1997, despite the rise in obesity.
He added: "It would be foolish to interpret these findings to suggest that it is OK to eat lots of fatty meat, lashings of cream and oodles of butter."
Sugar is now seen by some experts as the biggest enemy to health. Last month, the British Medical Association (BMA) called for a 20 per cent tax on sugary drinks such as cola.
Campaigners say sugar is the "new tobacco", addictive and pushed on us by big corporations.
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