Re: NAS Panel: Only Safe Intake of Trans Fat is Zero ~ Newsroom ~ News from CSPI

July 29, 2002

I strongly agree with this one, a. Even though trans fats aren't listed in

the Nutrition Facts label yet, they appear in the ingredients list. Avoid

anything that has as one of its ingredients described as " partially hydrogenated

.... " , everyone.

Artificially created fats and sweeteners are not good things to put into one's

body. If you must have fats and sugars, just use less of the real thing.

[ ] NAS Panel: Only Safe Intake of Trans Fat is Zero ~

Newsroom ~ News from CSPI

NAS Panel: Only Safe Intake of Trans Fat is Zero

CSPI Says Report Makes Case For Including Trans On Food Labels

In 1994, the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) petitioned the

FDA to require that Nutrition Facts labels disclose trans fat. In 1999, the

Food and Drug Administration proposed to require trans fat labeling, but

delayed finalizing a regulation, in part, to consider a report from the

National Academy of Science¹s Institute of Medicine, which was released

today. Following is a statement from CSPI Nutrition Policy Director Margo

Wootan:

³The National Academy of Sciences¹ report is the first attempt by a panel of

experts to set a safe intake level for trans fat. The panel found that, like

saturated fat, trans fat promotes heart disease. Furthermore, the panel

concluded that the only safe intake of trans fat is Ozero.¹ However, because

it would be impractical to eliminate all trans fat from the diet, the panel

recommended that people consume as little trans fat as possible. Yet it is

currently impossible for consumers to follow the panel¹s advice because the

Food and Drug Administration does not require trans fat to be listed on

Nutrition Facts food labels.

³This report leaves the FDA with only one choice: It should require trans

fat to be labeled on the same line as saturated fat, using the current Daily

Value for saturated fat. That¹s what the Canadian government has already

proposed. To list trans fat on labels with no Daily Value would confuse the

public because it would give consumers no clue that they should consume as

little trans fat as possible, as the NAS recommended today.²

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