Artificial trans fat, which has been linked to an increased risk of coronary heart disease, will be banned in food supply by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

The FDA announced its preliminary determination in a statement that partially hydrogenated oils (PHOs), the primary dietary source of artificial trans fat in processed foods, are not " generally recognized as safe" for use in food.

The agency said the preliminary determination is based on available scientific evidence and the findings of expert scientific panels.

FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg said "While consumption of potentially harmful artificial trans fat has declined over the last two decades in the United States, current intake remains a significant public health concern."

Hamburg added that the ban on use of trans fats in processed food could prevent an additional 20,000 heart attacks and 7,000 deaths from heart disease each year in the United States.

Consumption of trans fat raises low-density lipoprotein (LDL), or "bad" cholesterol, increasing the risk of coronary heart disease. The independent Institute of Medicine (IOM) has concluded that trans fat provides no known health benefit and that there is no safe level of consumption of artificial trans fat.

The IOM also recommends that consumption of trans fat should be as low as possible while consuming a nutritionally adequate diet.

In recent years, many food manufacturers and retailers in the U. S. have voluntarily decreased trans fat levels in many foods and products they sell.

However, trans fat can still be found in some processed foods, such as certain desserts, microwave popcorn products, frozen pizzas, margarines and coffee creamers.

Numerous retailers and manufacturers have already demonstrated that many of these products can be made without trans fat.

Since trans fat is required to be listed on the Nutrition Facts label of foods in 2006, trans fat intake among American consumers has declined from 4.6 grams per day in 2003 to about 1 gram per day in 2012, the FDA said.

The agency has opened a 60-day comment period on this preliminary determination to collect additional data and to gain input on the time potentially needed for food manufacturers to reformulate products that currently contain artificial trans fat should this determination be finalized.

Following a review of the submitted comments, if the FDA finalizes its preliminary determination, PHOs would be considered "food additives" and could not be used in food unless authorized by regulation, the agency said.

The FDA said its preliminary determination is only with regard to PHOs and does not affect trans fat that naturally occurs in small amounts in certain meat and dairy products.

Source: Xinhuanet