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ASA will comment on FDA’s trans fats plan

The American Soybean Association says they will comment on the Food and Drug Administration’s proposal to tighten restrictions on trans fats in food. The FDA has made a tentative determination to rescind the Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) status for partially-hydrogenated oils.

ASA President Danny Murphy says since the FDA required labeling of trans-fats in 2003, the soybean industry and food processors have worked to greatly reduce the amount of partially hydrogenated oils and trans fats in food. Citing FDA’s own numbers, Murphy says average consumer consumption of trans fat has been reduced by 70 percent in the past decade.

Additionally, the soybean seed and technology companies have been developing varieties high in oleic fatty acids which eliminate the need for partial hydrogenation.

Given these developments, Murphy questions the FDA’s action saying “food processors may be pressured to replace remaining partially hydrogenated oils with those high in saturated fat such as palm or coconut oils, which would not be a good outcome for consumers.”

Murphy says FDA needs to give the soybean industry a little more time to ramp-up the production of high-oleic soybeans “to provide an economical alternative to food processors.”

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