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| The Top Ten Unfounded Health Scares of 2006 #1 |
| Trans Fatty Acids Cause Obesity and Heart Disease |
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| Posted: Friday, December 15, 2006 |
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The Scare: Trans fats are “the most dangerous ingredient in our diet.”(5) Trans fatty acids (TFAs) have been in the American food supply since the early 1900s; they are produced when hydrogen is added to unsaturated fatty acids in a process known as partial hydrogenation. TFAs lend stability and useful textural characteristics to a variety of foods, similar to the effects of saturated fats. TFAs are also similar to saturated fats in that consumption of either can increase blood levels of LDL (“bad”) cholesterol. That much is well established. There are also some data that suggest, though not conclusively, that TFAs also lower levels of HDL (“good”) cholesterol. Because of these effects, there is concern that consumption of TFAs can contribute to heart disease—this concern has been whipped into a full-fledged fear campaign. Some scientists and activists now speak of TFAs as though they were acutely poisonous, or supremely dangerous. (6,7) And they speak as though TFAs are uniquely responsible for heart disease being the number one cause of death in the United States.
Origin of the Scare: In the 1980s some activists urged food purveyors to use oils and fats containing TFAs in place of those containing saturated fats in order to avoid saturated fats’ effects on blood cholesterol levels. But when further research found that TFAs could also have negative effects on blood cholesterol, they reversed their position and have greatly exaggerated the risks of TFAs and the benefits to be gained from removing them from the American diet.
Media Coverage: Media coverage of the TFA issue has been more than extensive—a Google search on “trans fats” yielded over three million “hits.” Coverage ranged from sober explanations of the effects of these ingredients on blood cholesterol levels to excited alarms conflating TFA consumption with the obesity epidemic. (8,9) And in December 2006, the New York City Board of Health voted to ban the use of TFAs in restaurant foods citywide. This decision generated a new spate of coverage—the great majority lauding the Board of Health for taking steps to “protect New Yorkers’ health.” (10) It will not be surprising if other cities follow suit: Chicago is already considering doing so. (11)
 The Bottom Line: The topic of TFAs is a difficult one for media to present accurately as these ingredients are certainly not beneficial to health, but are not as supremely dangerous as some would have us believe. Exaggeration of the negative health effects is not conducive to a reasonable approach to diet. ACSH has noted in a number of articles and opinions, as well as a peer-reviewed and published paper, that the consumption of trans fats by Americans is low and likely to become even smaller since the FDA ruled that packaged foods must list the TFA content on their nutrition labels. Manufacturers have responded by limiting the amounts of TFAs in their products. (12,13,14) Thus the risk to heart health from TFAs is likely to decrease—but we do not know that the fats that will replace TFAs (quite possibly some form of saturated fats) will be any less detrimental—and this is the problem with overzealous rules to ban TFAs outright. Further, since TFAs contain the same number of calories per gram, as do all other fats, their removal will not necessarily result in lower calorie consumption—which is what is needed to deal with the soaring prevalence of obesity in the United States.
The TFA scare is one that has become enmeshed in nearly unprecedented levels of hyperbole and exaggeration: unfortunately it has been promoted by some who should have known better and has been applied precipitously by some for political gain, rather than in the best interests of citizens’ health.
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| Table of Contents |
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Introduction
1. Trans Fatty Acids Cause Obesity and Heart Disease
2. Benzene in Soft Drinks Cause Cancer
3. High Fructose Corn Syrup Causes Obesity
4. Tuna Has Unsafe Mercury Levels
5. Nitrosamines in Bacon Cause Bladder Cancer
6. Teflon Contains a Cancer-Causing Chemical (PFOA)
7. Grilled Chicken: Another Cancer Risk?
8. Meat Packaging Threatens Consumers’ Health
9. Consumers Should Fear Chemicals in Cosmetics
10. Hormone Replacement Therapy Fears and Hype About “Natural” Alternatives
References
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| Published: December 2006 |
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| Paperback |
| ISBN: N/A |
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