A study by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, revealed that from 2000 to 2009, trans-fatty acid blood levels (TFAs) in white U.S. adults have decreased by 58%. CDC researchers have, for the first time, been able to measure trans fats in human blood.
As part of CDC’s larger National Bio-monitoring program, which measures over 450 environmental chemicals and nutritional indicators in people, the CDC researchers evaluated trans-fatty acid blood levels before and after the Food and Drug Administration’s 2003 regulation became effective in 2006. Participants were selected from the 2000 and 2009 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES).
The regulation requires that food and dietary supplement manufacturers inform consumers about the TFA, also known as unsaturated fat content, by listing the relevant information on the product’s Nutrition Facts panel. Until the legislation became effective in 2006, some local as well as state health departments initiated public awareness campaigns about the associated health risks with TFAs, and required restaurants to limit using TFAs in food.
Christopher Portier, Ph.D., director of CDC’s National Center for Environmental Health declared:
“The 58 percent decline shows substantial progress that should help lower the risk of cardiovascular disease in adults. Findings from the CDC study demonstrate the effectiveness of these efforts in reducing blood TFAs and highlight that further reductions in the levels of trans fats must remain an important public health goal.”
Dr. Portier continued saying that although the current study only offers information for white adults, more CDC studies are underway to assess blood TFAs in other adult race/ethnic groups as well as in children and adolescents.
Compared with other dietary fats, trans fats are not needed to maintain human health and certainly do not promote it. According to research, high consumption of trans-fatty acids is partly associated with cardiovascular disease given that TFAs increase LDL cholesterol (“bad” cholesterol), and therefore changing to a low TFA diet potentially lowers LDL cholesterol levels und ultimately the risk for cardiovascular disease.
About Trans Fats
According to the USDA/HHS Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2010, it is recommended to consume as little TFA as possible, particularly by restricting foods that contain synthetic sources of trans fats like partially hydrogenated oils, and by limiting other solid fats. For more information, click here.
- Unsaturated fat levels in the blood are the result of synthetic sources in foods, for instance, partially hydrogenated vegetable oils and natural sources in foods like milk.
- Food manufacturers use hydrogenation to solidify products containing TFAs at room temperature, which makes the food more resistant to spoiling easily or becoming rancid.
- Given that grazing animals produce trans-fatty acids, small amounts can therefore be found in meat and milk products.
The FDA requires nutrition fact labels since 2006, which list the amount of trans fats in food products. Customers may enquire at restaurants which fats are being used to prepare the food before placing an order and many restaurants display the nutritional content of their food or can provide it upon request.
CDC Recommendations
- Check the trans fat listing on the Nutrition Facts label.
- Compare brands and select those with the lowest trans fat content, preferably foods that contain no trans fat.
- Use unsaturated vegetable oil instead of margarine that contains trans fat.
- If you prefer using margarine, select a soft margarine spread instead of margarine sold as a stick. Read the labels to ensure the soft margarine does contain less trans fat and, wherever possible, find one that says zero grams of trans fat.
For more information on CDC’s work in the National Biomonitoring program,