TRANS FAT: HIDDEN KILLER.In the late 1980s the Center for Science in the Public Interest (the publisher of Nutrition Action Healthletter) and others pressured fast-food chains to change the shortening in their fryers from beef fat to vegetable oil. And we--and others--praised Burger King, McDonald's, etc., when they stopped using beef fat around 1990. Unfortunately, they didn't switch to oil, but to shortening. The switch to shortening seemed acceptable at the time, but researchers soon discovered a problem: the trans fat that's created when vegetable oil is hydrogenated (which turns a liquid oil into a more-solid shortening) raises LDL LDL - ["LDL: A Logic-Based Data-Language", S. Tsur et al, Proc VLDB 1986, Kyoto Japan, Aug 1986, pp.33-41]. ("bad") cholesterol, just as the saturated fat saturated fat, any solid fat that is an ester of glycerol and a saturated fatty acid. The molecules of a saturated fat have only single bonds between carbon atoms; if double bonds are present in the fatty acid portion of the molecule, the fat is said to be in beef fat does. And in some studies, trans also lowers HDL (Hardware Description Language) A language used to describe the functions of an electronic circuit for documentation, simulation or logic synthesis (or all three). Although many proprietary HDLs have been developed, Verilog and VHDL are the major standards. ("good") cholesterol. The bottom line: trans fat clogs arteries at least as much as sat fat does. Based on that research, in 1994 CSPI CSPI Center for Science in the Public Interest CSPI Corporate Service Price Index CSPI Cumulative Schedule Performance Index petitioned the Food and Drug Administration (FDA FDA abbr. Food and Drug Administration FDA, n.pr See Food and Drug Administration. FDA, n.pr the abbreviation for the Food and Drug Administration. ) to require that food labels include the amount of trans fat in with the amount of saturated fat. That would give consumers a clearer picture of how much damage the food would do to their arteries. Last November, the FDA proposed labeling very similar to what we asked for in our petition. In making its proposal, the FDA said that trans is responsible for thousands--possibly tens of thousands--of deaths each year. While the proposal is an important step forward, it won't solve the whole trans problem. Improved labeling would reduce the amount of trans eaten by the average American by only 20 percent, the FDA estimates. The proposal wouldn't affect the labeling of foods served in restaurants, which are often loaded with trans. And it wouldn't limit the amount of trans in shortening, margarine, and other high-trans foods. The food industry may try to derail de·rail intr. & tr.v. de·railed, de·rail·ing, de·rails 1. To run or cause to run off the rails. 2. the FDA's excellent proposal, which is why it's important that you contact the FDA by February 15. Write to the address below in your own words. If you can't, mail the coupon or send an e-mail to fdadockets@oc.fda.gov (use "Docket A written list of judicial proceedings set down for trial in a court. To enter the dates of judicial proceedings scheduled for trial in a book kept by a court. #94P-0036" as the subject line). To: FDA, Dockets Management Branch (HFA-305) 5630 Fishers Lane, Room 1061 Rockville, Maryland 20852 Re: Docket #94P-0036 From: Trans fat is a hidden killer in our food supply. As a member of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, I strongly support the FDA's proposal to require that trans fat be included in with saturated fat on food labels (with a footnote that reveals the amount of trans). The FDA should keep the current Daily Value for saturated fat, and should limit the amount of trans fat in foods that make claims like "low in saturated fat," "cholesterol free," or "lean." Michael F. Jacobson Michael F. Jacobson, who holds a Ph.D. in microbiology, co-founded the Center for Science in the Public Interest in 1971, along with two fellow scientists he met while working at the Center for the Study of Responsive Law. Executive Director Center for Science in the Public Interest |
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