The US Food and Drug Administration has set a 2018 deadline for the food industry to stop using trans fats, the artery-clogging produce that is the leading cause of heart disease in the US and, seeing how so much American-made food is sold abroad, the rest of the world. The FDA has known for years that trans fats lead to higher risk of heart attack and death and have no health benefits. So the question is why it has taken the US government so long to act. That’s because trans fats can make food taste good, which means more such food is sold, and it lasts longer on grocery-store shelves, which again earns more money.
But trans fats are also more hazardous for your heart. They raise the bad cholesterol just like saturated fats, but they also increase inflammation and lower the good cholesterol that protects people against heart disease.
Trans fats are unsaturated fats that are uncommon in nature but became commonly produced industrially from vegetable fats for use in margarine, snack food, packaged baked goods and frying fast food starting in the 1950s. Despite the many years trans fats have been around and despite their immense health dangers, many people eat products laced with trans fats all the same. Countless surveys have shown that when looking at the nutritional facts of foods, many people neglect to pay attention to the amount of trans fat in them. This means that trans fat is not on their minds unless they are specifically told of it. When asked if they had ever heard about trans fats, 98 percent of one survey said they had; however, only 27 percent said that it was unhealthy. Also, 79 percent said that they only knew a little about trans fats.
The biggest problem apparently lies with youth. Respondents aged 41-60 were more likely to view trans fats as a major health concern, compared to ages 18-40. When asked if they would stop buying their favorite snacks if they knew it contained trans fats, most said they would continue purchasing it, especially the younger respondents.
Also, of the respondents that called trans fats a major concern, 56 percent still wouldn't change their diet to non-trans fats snacks. How good food tastes obviously takes precedence over the perceived risk to health.
Manufacturers have been gradually replacing the trans fats they once used to give their offerings a distinctive taste or texture with other ingredients, so consumers will not necessarily notice any sharp differences between the newer, healthier versions of the products that will be on the shelves and the processed foods they've been buying up to now. In addition, the benefits of a healthier diet will show up in the form of lower cholesterol and blood pressure levels and reduced risk of illnesses such as type 2 diabetes, cancer, liver damage and Alzheimer's disease, all of which are associated with eating trans fats.
But just because a food is free of trans fats does not necessarily mean that such food is automatically good for you. Food manufacturers have begun substituting other ingredients for trans fats. Some of these ingredients, such as tropical oils - coconut, palm kernel and palm oils - contain a lot of saturated fat which increases bad cholesterol.
Still, the FDA has taken a big step to remove trans fat, considered by many doctors to be the worst type of fat you can eat. Trans fats increase the money food manufacturers make but also increase the risk of heart disease, the leading killer of men and women. By finally banning these harmful substances, the agency has put the US and the world on track to save thousands of lives a year.
