Some Danish Advice on the Trans-Fat Ban
The U.S. is considering a limit on the artery clogger similar to one Denmark instituted a decade ago. How did the ban impact that country?
Excerpt:
When the U.S. Food and Drug Administration proposed to eliminate artery-clogging fats from all foodstuffs last week, they could look across the Atlantic Ocean at one recipe for success. Denmark placed tight restrictions on its own partially hydrogenated oils—the main source of trans fats—a decade ago.
In fact, U.S. action follows in the footsteps of a cadre of nations that have sought to limit trans fat intake already. And their results and playbook could provide a glimpse of the future in the U.S. In 2003 Denmark green-lighted legislation that limited the same substance in its food. Their law did not ban the substance, but it did force manufacturers to limit its use—any food could only have up to 2 percent of its fat made of trans fat, substantially shrinking the presence. Later, Austria, Switzerland, Iceland and Sweden followed suit. And parts of the U.S., including New York City and California, independently took action in recent years to pass legislative limits on trans fat in the food served in restaurants.
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The problem is that scientific evidence has shown that the substance raises the “bad”cholesterol in our bodies and stokes the risk of developing heart disease. The new move by the FDA seeks to remove these partially hydrogenated oils from our foods (although it would not impact the small quantities of trans fat naturally produced in the guts of some grazing animals that show up in some of our milk and meat). The change could prevent an estimated 20,000 heart attacks and 7,000 deaths from heart disease each year. The proposal would force companies that want to continue to use the substances in food to procure special waivers. Removing partially hydrogenated oils from the U.S. food supply could cost about $8 billion, the FDA said in its proposal.
Full article: Some Danish Advice on the Trans-Fat Ban: Scientific American.
Picture credit: Image: iStockphoto/Thinkstock
