After a 14 year battle, the time has finally come to say goodbye to artificial trans fat!

“The elimination of artificial trans fat from the food supply represents a historic and long-fought victory for public health,” said CSPI senior scientist and former executive director Michael F. Jacobson, who led CSPI’s efforts to get artificial trans fat out of foods. “Ridding the food supply of partially hydrogenated oils will save tens of thousands of lives each year.”

This new law is all a part of a plan revealed in May by the World Health Organization to completely eliminate artificial trans fats by 2023. The production of processed foods and the rise of fast food restaurants have brought our world many steps back in terms of health. Now, it is our chance to take a large leap forward.

Partially hydrogenated oils were introduced to the processed food industry in the early 1900’s. The idea to hydrogenate vegetable oils, or make liquid vegetable oils solid at room temperature, even won a Nobel Prize in 1912. Further research determined that trans fat increases LDL (“bad cholesterol”) while lowering HDL (“good cholesterol”) levels, increasing risk of heart disease.

The first major study on trans fats and coronary heart disease was released in 1993. Artificial trans fats were shown to contribute to nearly 50,000 deaths a year. As of June 18th, the food industry will no longer be able to include trans fats in their products. Many fast food restaurants have already begun implementing this practice and have shown great success. For example, the Big Catch meal at Long John Silver’s once contained 33 grams of trans fat and now contains none. A lot of consumers have expressed that with this new law, the flavor is not sacrificed. Trans fats will go on to become unmissed and unneeded. 

To read more on this topic, visit A Final Farewell to Artificial Trans Fat.

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