Consumer group seeks ban on trans fat

Now this is a very good idea:

WASHINGTON (AP) -- A consumer advocacy group has petitioned the Food and Drug Administration to ban the use of partially hydrogenated vegetable oils as processed food ingredients.

Partially hydrogenated vegetable oils are a common source of artery-clogging trans fat. Manufacturers, though, use such oils to give their products longer shelf lives and maintain flavor.

The Center for Science in the Public Interest said in its petition there are safer alternatives to the partially hydrogenated vegetable oils. Among the alternatives are canola, corn and sunflower oils and new manufactured modified fats, CSPI said.

The Institute of Medicine, an arm of the National Academy of Sciences, has said there is no safe amount of trans fat in the diet. Trans fat is an especially harmful type of fatty acid because it raises levels of artery-clogging cholesterol while reducing healthful cholesterol.

CSPI says that getting rid of trans fat from food could save 11,000 to 30,000 lives a year.

Read more...