By Lucy Hurlbut ‘14

The FDA has required that artificial trans fats be listed on nutrition labels since 2006, however, it now wants to remove artificial trans fats from foods entirely. This is a great move, because they can have adverse affects on the body, including raising bad cholesterol and lowering good cholesterol. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates 5,000 Americans a year die of heart disease, because artificial trans fats are in the foods. Cutting these fats in foods could prevent 20,000 heart attacks a year and save 7,000 people from dying of heart disease. If removing such a harmful artificial fat can save many peoples’ lives, then it is definitely worth removing from foods. Even though it will not be easy to find substitutes for everything quickly, companies will find ways, such as replacing the artificial fats with palm oil and coconut oil. Butter and vegetable oils could also be used to get the good-tastiness of trans fats but without the trans fats.