Dive Brief:
- The Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA) has petitioned the FDA for its approval of low levels of partially hydrogenated oils (PHOs) to be used in food products.
- "Our food additive petition shows that the presence of trans fat from the proposed low-level uses of PHOs is as safe as the naturally occurring trans fat present in the normal diet," said Dr. Leon Bruner, GMA's chief science officer in a press release.
- According to the press release, "The petition seeks approval of PHO uses that are important for the production of safe food products. Examples of proposed uses include use as color and flavor carriers and to deliver certain consumer-desired textural characteristics that other oils cannot provide."
Dive Insight:
The petition contains the most current information about the amount of trans fat in U.S. diets. This is the first major step taken by an industry organization since FDA mandated that food companies removed PHOs, the main source of artificial trans fats, from their products. This does not mean removing all trans fats, some of which occur naturally in beef, milk, and other dairy products, but the PHOs, or artificial trans fats, will have to go by 2018. The petition from the GMA comes as no surprise. The FDA had suggested in 2013 that it wold review a food additive petition for safe uses of PHOs.