In a move that experts say could prevent thousands of deaths every year, the US Food and Drug Administration has declared that trans fats are no longer considered safe in food.
The new rule released Tuesday, June 16 gives food companies three years to cut trans fats from the food supply. And while the use of these fats has already declined a lot in recent years, some companies are slacking on removing it from their products.
About 85% of artificial trans fat has already been removed from the food supply, as a result of an ongoing public health campaign including a requirement to put trans fat on nutrition labels, state and local bans of trans fats in restaurants, and lawsuits, according to the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI).
The newly announced ban, then, is a means of "putting the last nail in the coffin," Jim O’Hara, director of health promotion policy at CSPI, told Business Insider.
