Canada bans use of trans fats in food products
Canada bans use of trans fats in food products
Canada's ban on the main source of artificial trans fats came into effect Monday, making it illegal for manufacturers to use the additive in any food made or imported into the country.
The new regulation applies only to PHOs, not naturally occurring trans fats, which can be found in some animal-based foods such as milk, cheese, beef and lamb.
Trans fats have been used for the last century to add taste and texture to food as a replacement for butter. They also extend the shelf life of many foods, like cookies, pastries, donuts and muffins, snack foods and fried foods.
But they are known to increase levels of "bad" cholesterol, raising the risk of heart disease.
The head of the Heart and Stroke Foundation, an organization that has long pushed for the removal of trans fats, said he is thrilled to finally see the ban implemented.
"This important and final step will eliminate these heart-clogging fats from our food supply, benefiting the health of all people in Canada by reducing the number of heart attacks and saving lives," Yves Savoie said in a statement.
Heart disease is one of the leading causes of death, killing tens of thousands of Canadians each year. Replacing trans fats in foods with unsaturated fatty acids, such as canola oil, decreases the risk of heart disease.
Ottawa obesity expert Dr. Yoni Freedhoff, who has been railing against artificial trans fats in Canada's food supply for about two decades, is glad to see the legislated removal of the "deadly toxin," but wonders why it took so long to enact.
While Freedhoff believes the amount of products containing trans fats remaining on grocery store shelves will be relatively small, consumers should look at the ingredient list for the words "partially hydrogenated," even if a product's label says "trans fat-free" or "zero trans fats."
"So if it says partially hydrogenated, even if it says trans fats zero, it doesn't mean that there are zero trans fats."
-PTC News
