Trans fat purge began over 10 years ago
Print Edition
What will food without trans fats taste like? You probably already know.
Artificial trans fats — widely considered the most dangerous of the so-called bad fats in the American diet — were officially shown the door by the Food and Drug Administration this week, but the truth is most food manufacturers and restaurants started the eviction process years ago.
The trans fat purge began when federal officials first took aim at the ingredient more than a decade ago, but hit critical mass when trans fat content was added to nutrition labels on packaged foods in 2006. As consumer awareness grew, companies worked fast to reformulate products to cut or eliminate trans fats, which are viewed unsafe at any level.
The restaurant industry wasn’t far behind, particularly after New York City banned trans fats from all restaurant food in 2008, with communities around the country following suit. Rather than grapple with a patchwork of regulations, major chains like McDonald’s, Taco Bell and Burger King decided to remove trans fats from their menus nationally.
After all, trans fats can play a significant role in a food’s texture, structure and taste. Like butter — but more cheaply and with better shelf life — they put the flakiness in flakey pie crusts, and Americans baked with them in the form of Crisco (also now free of trans fats) for generations.
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