For decades Americans have been trying to reduce their consumption of artificial trans fats. Parents check the food labels when grocery shopping for their families and consumers are making better choices when eating out. Companies like McDonalds and Subway stepped up and made it easier by removing all artificial trans fats from their products. And Wal-Mart has pledged to no longer have artificial trans fat on their store shelves by 2015.
But there is still more to be done by government, industry and consumers to make sure that we have the tools we need to keep unsafe foods off our tables.
As a mom who cares deeply about nutrition, I too can get confused by what are good fats and bad fats. But independent scientists agree, there is no safe level of artificial trans fat.
Partially Hydrogenated Oils (PHO), are an artificial substance that is formed by adding hydrogen to vegetable oil during processing to make it more solid. PHOs are the leading source of artificial trans fat; they cause plaque buildup in the arteries, are a contributing factor to heart attacks, and for too many, an early death. The Centers for Disease Control estimates that a further reduction of artificial trans fat in the food supply can prevent up to 7,000 deaths from heart disease each year and as many as 20,000 heart attacks each year.
Fonte: White House