Trans fatty acids report - EFR 6-28

The risk of consuming trans fatty acids will continue to be one of the issues pushed by consumer groups in the near future. The report below gives the views of a reliable scientific group on some aspects of the controversy.

Excerpted from FOOD CHEMICAL NEWS, May 6, 1996, page 15.

The American Society of Clinical Nutrition/American Institute of Nutrition Task Force published its position paper on trans fatty acids in the May issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

In their report the task force concluded it was "premature to make new dietary recommendations for the population at large or to change nutrition policy to mandate that trans fatty acids be listed separately, or be included with saturated fatty acids on nutrition labels, especially in view of the inadequate data base for making or implementing such a change." However, the task force did say that consumers could limit their intake of margarines and shortenings used in frying and baking, and food manufacturers could reduce the trans fatty acid content of products.

Because there are few rigorous studies which have dealt with the biomedical effects of trans fatty acids and possible mechanisms for disease, the task force did not conclude that intake of trans fatty acids is a risk factor for coronary heart disease, nor did the report indicate that substituting trans- for cis-containing fats would reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease.

The task force cautioned that the debate on trans fatty acids should not be allowed to diminish "the body of scientific evidence linking the intake of saturated fatty acids to cardiovascular risk, thereby providing the basis for dietary recommendations limiting the intake of saturated fat."

It was noted in the report that consumption of trans fatty acids has not changed much since the 1970s even though consumption of vegetable fat in salad and cooking oils and shortening has increased. The authors concluded that new products which are lower in trans fatty acids had offset any increase in vegetable fat consumption.

In the paper it was pointed out that improvements in the hydrogenation process should decrease the formation of trans fatty acids. Interesterification and genetic engineering were also mentioned as new technologies which could assist in the reduction of trans fatty acids. "Collectively, these new food technologies could result in a significant decrease in the trans fatty acid content of the U.S. diet," said the paper.