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Reduction of trans-Fatty Acids From Food—Reply

Reduction of trans-Fatty Acids From Food—Reply In Reply: The main objectives of our Viewpoint were to summarize the importance of reducing dietary intake of TFAs, highlight progress thus far in reducing consumption of industrially produced TFAs, and provide an estimate of the health benefit of further reducing intake of industrially produced TFAs by eliminating partially hydrogenated oil in food production and preparation. While elimination of partially hydrogenated oil can be achieved through either voluntary or regulatory strategies, we did not specify an option in our article. Significant progress has occurred in the United States in reformulating foods to lower TFA content as a result of voluntary efforts by industry as well as some local policies to restrict TFAs in restaurants. Much of the reformulation in packaged foods followed food labeling changes that went into effect in 2006.1 Further labeling changes to specify whether a food product contains any quantity of TFAs would further increase transparency of a food's TFA content. While we agree with Mr Katarey and Ms Francis that it is possible for a product labeled zero trans fat to have close to 0.5 g of trans fat per serving, we are unaware of any published data on the distribution of TFA content for foods labeled zero trans fat but still containing some partially hydrogenated oil that are necessary to estimate the proportion of these foods with close to 0.5 g per serving. We agree with Drs Backholer and Peeters that there are no known health benefits of industrially produced TFAs. We also agree that we cannot be sure that further food labeling changes would eliminate exposure to partially hydrogenated oil for all individuals. While we are not aware of any current data to indicate that persons of lower income have higher dietary intakes of TFAs or that less expensive brands of the same food product have higher TFA content than the more expensive brands, we agree these are important areas of research. A recent FDA study provided evidence of differences in the TFA content of different brands of the same food.2 For example, different brands of frozen pizza contained from 0 to 5 g of TFAs per serving. Therefore, elimination of partially hydrogenated oils from packaged foods would eliminate these differences and would help persons who may only have access to specific brands and those who are not aware of the different content levels of TFAs. Back to top Article Information Conflict of Interest Disclosures: The authors have completed and submitted the ICMJE Form for Disclosure of Potential Conflicts of Interest and none were reported. Disclaimer: The findings and conclusions in this report are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official position of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. References 1. Food and Drug Administration, HHS. Food labeling: trans fatty acids in nutrition labeling, nutrient content claims, and health claims: final rule. Fed Regist. 2003;68(133):41433-4150612856667PubMedGoogle Scholar 2. Doell D, Folmer D, Lee H, Honigfort M, Carberry S. Updated estimate of trans fat intake in the US population. http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/19440049.2012.664570. Accessed March 15, 2012 http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png JAMA American Medical Association

Reduction of trans-Fatty Acids From Food—Reply

JAMA , Volume 308 (18) – Nov 14, 2012

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References (2)

Publisher
American Medical Association
Copyright
Copyright © 2012 American Medical Association. All Rights Reserved.
ISSN
0098-7484
eISSN
1538-3598
DOI
10.1001/jama.2012.14231
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

In Reply: The main objectives of our Viewpoint were to summarize the importance of reducing dietary intake of TFAs, highlight progress thus far in reducing consumption of industrially produced TFAs, and provide an estimate of the health benefit of further reducing intake of industrially produced TFAs by eliminating partially hydrogenated oil in food production and preparation. While elimination of partially hydrogenated oil can be achieved through either voluntary or regulatory strategies, we did not specify an option in our article. Significant progress has occurred in the United States in reformulating foods to lower TFA content as a result of voluntary efforts by industry as well as some local policies to restrict TFAs in restaurants. Much of the reformulation in packaged foods followed food labeling changes that went into effect in 2006.1 Further labeling changes to specify whether a food product contains any quantity of TFAs would further increase transparency of a food's TFA content. While we agree with Mr Katarey and Ms Francis that it is possible for a product labeled zero trans fat to have close to 0.5 g of trans fat per serving, we are unaware of any published data on the distribution of TFA content for foods labeled zero trans fat but still containing some partially hydrogenated oil that are necessary to estimate the proportion of these foods with close to 0.5 g per serving. We agree with Drs Backholer and Peeters that there are no known health benefits of industrially produced TFAs. We also agree that we cannot be sure that further food labeling changes would eliminate exposure to partially hydrogenated oil for all individuals. While we are not aware of any current data to indicate that persons of lower income have higher dietary intakes of TFAs or that less expensive brands of the same food product have higher TFA content than the more expensive brands, we agree these are important areas of research. A recent FDA study provided evidence of differences in the TFA content of different brands of the same food.2 For example, different brands of frozen pizza contained from 0 to 5 g of TFAs per serving. Therefore, elimination of partially hydrogenated oils from packaged foods would eliminate these differences and would help persons who may only have access to specific brands and those who are not aware of the different content levels of TFAs. Back to top Article Information Conflict of Interest Disclosures: The authors have completed and submitted the ICMJE Form for Disclosure of Potential Conflicts of Interest and none were reported. Disclaimer: The findings and conclusions in this report are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official position of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. References 1. Food and Drug Administration, HHS. Food labeling: trans fatty acids in nutrition labeling, nutrient content claims, and health claims: final rule. Fed Regist. 2003;68(133):41433-4150612856667PubMedGoogle Scholar 2. Doell D, Folmer D, Lee H, Honigfort M, Carberry S. Updated estimate of trans fat intake in the US population. http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/19440049.2012.664570. Accessed March 15, 2012

Journal

JAMAAmerican Medical Association

Published: Nov 14, 2012

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