According to the United States Food and Drug Administration order, artificial trans fat will have to disappear from the American diet by 2018. The FDA has ruled that trans fat is not “generally recognized as safe” for use in human food. The USFDA has taken the decision after intensive lobbying by health advocates and scientists that artificial oils raise the risk of heart diseases by clogging arteries.

In this regard, USFDA has revoked the status of partially hydrogenated oils (PHOs) as a food additive from current status of safe food product. Henceforth food manufacturers in US will be no longer be able to use the PHOs in food without prior approval of FDA. The companies can petition the FDA for a special permit to use it, but no PHOs can be added to human food unless otherwise approved by the FDA.

Adverse Effects of Eating Trans fat rich foods include higher body weight, heart disease and memory loss. It has been shown to raise the “bad,” or LDL, cholesterol in the blood, which can lead to cardiovascular disease — the leading cause of death in the United States.

The new policy will save at least 20,000 coronary heart attacks each year and 7,000 deaths from coronary heart disease in US alone. It will also serve as lessons for the regulation on trans-fat use in foods in developing countries such as India where heart related diseases are on rise.