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06/30/2006: "Legislating Trans Fats"

One of the big Canadian news items today is that the government is being pushed to limit trans fats (CBC CTV). The recommendations are to restrict trans fats to 2% in oils and soft margarines and 5% on all other foods.

In other news, food manufacturers have already been hurredly removing most if not all trans fats from their products in the past few years. Why the rush? As of Dec 13th 2005 all food manufacturers in Canada were required to include the amount of trans fat present in their products to the label. This gave shoppers (us) the data they needed to make an informed choice between different products, and choose they did.

I don't think this kind of legislation is a good idea, at least not now. It is apparent that consumers know that trans fats are bad, and that they have pushed the market to eliminate or reduce their use. What was needed was accurate reporting. The worst offenders now for keeping trans fats in foods are fast food restaurants, which do not have the same kind of labeling requirements. Even so, the major chains have all announced they are moving away from the use of hydrogenated oils in their products. Labeling requirements would keep them honest, but mandatory restrictions don't seem to be necessary, and as such would cause more problems than they solve.