US FDA orders food producers to remove partially hydrogenated oils from processed foods

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has given food producers a time frame of three years to remove partially hydrogenated oils (PHOs) from their products as a review of scientific evidence by the agency found oils unsafe for human consumption.

PHOs are the primary dietary source of artificial trans fat in processed foods and the FDA is hoping to reduce fatal heart attacks across the country with the move.

FDA Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition director Susan Mayne said: "Studies show that diet and nutrition play a key role in preventing chronic health problems, such as cardiovascular disease and today’s action goes hand in hand with other FDA initiatives to improve the health of Americans, including updating the nutrition facts label.

"This determination is based on extensive research into the effects of PHOs, as well as input from all stakeholders received during the public comment period."

FDA had declared in 2013 that PHOs could not be generally recognised as safe (GRAS). It finalised its ruling after a public consultation.

The agency will be giving food companies a compliance period of three years during which time they will need to either reformulate products without PHOs and/or petition the FDA to permit specific uses of PHOs. Following the compliance period, no PHOs can be added to human food unless they are otherwise approved by the FDA.

Once the compliance period is over, producers will only be able to add PSOs to food products with FDA’s approval.

Current rules mandate labeling of foods with ‘0’ grams trans fat if they contain less than 0.5 grams of trans fat per serving, including PHOs.