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The FDA is on a roll. Barely two week after announcing new quality control standards for pet food manufacturers, the agency has declared that trans fats are no longer safe to consume. A ban of the toxic substance is in the works, and the FDA will spearhead the eventual removal of this disease-promoting ingredient from the food supply.

“The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced its preliminary determination that partially hydrogenated oils (PHOs), the primary dietary source of artificial trans fat in processed foods, are not ‘generally recognized as safe’ for use in food,” the FDA has now announced. “If the FDA finalizes its preliminary determination, PHOs would be considered ‘food additives’ and could not be used in food unless authorized by regulation.”

I can hardly believe my own ears when I hear myself saying the FDA has now done two incredibly positive things back-to-back. But as a long-time critic of the FDA, I’ve also earned the right to applaud them when they do something right, and removing trans fats from the food supply is
hugely important to public health.

Partially-hydrogenated oils have been killing Americans for decades

Trans fats (found in partially-hydrogenated oils) cause heart disease, diabetes and many other chronic degenerative conditions. They exist only for the convenience of junk food manufacturers who want a shelf-stable fat that won’t liquefy and leak out of their junk processed foods. Trans fats — which are usually made from genetically modified soybean oil — are the perfect junk food ingredient because they taste fatty yet they are shelf-stable and resist rancidity. Some people refer to them as “plasticized” fats.