Banned Fat Hid in ‘Healthy’ Foods

At 98 years old, biochemist Fred Kummerow sued the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to force a ban on the ingredient that had been quietly killing Americans for decades.

Story Snapshot

The FDA required trans fat labels on all packaged foods starting January 1, 2006, after research linked the ingredient to heart disease.
Labeling alone did not solve the problem — food companies exploited a loophole that let them list 0 grams of trans fat even when the product contained some.
New York City banned trans fat in restaurants in 2006, proving a direct ban worked far better than a label warning.
In 2015, the FDA ruled that partially hydrogenated oils are not safe, effectively banning artificial trans fat nationwide by June 2018.

The Ingredient That Hid in Plain Sight for Decades

Trans fat is made by pumping hydrogen into liquid vegetable oil. That process turns cheap oil into a solid fat that stays fresh longer on store shelves. Food companies loved it. They used it in crackers, cookies, margarine, and fried foods for most of the 20th century. The problem was that eating it raises LDL, the “bad” cholesterol, and increases the risk of heart disease. Scientists knew this by the early 1990s. Regulators took another 25 years to act.

The delay was not from a lack of evidence. It came from a familiar mix of industry lobbying, regulatory caution, and a food supply already built around the ingredient. Changing that supply chain meant real costs for manufacturers. So the fight moved slowly, one small step at a time, while Americans kept eating the stuff in enormous quantities.

The Label Rule That Exposed the Problem — and Its Own Loophole

On July 11, 2003, the FDA published a rule requiring all packaged food labels to list trans fat content. The rule took effect January 1, 2006. That was a real win. For the first time, shoppers could see exactly what was in their food. Demand dropped as consumers started avoiding products with trans fat listed on the label. Many companies quietly began reformulating their products just to avoid the bad press.

But the rule had a gap big enough to drive a truck through. Any product with less than 0.5 grams of trans fat per serving could legally list “0g” on the label. Companies responded by shrinking serving sizes on paper so the per-serving number stayed under the threshold. A product could contain real amounts of trans fat and still carry a “0g trans fat” label. Shoppers thought they were safe. Often, they were not.

New York City Showed the Country How a Real Ban Works

While the federal label rule was still finding its limits, New York City moved faster. On December 5, 2006, the New York City Board of Health voted unanimously to ban artificial trans fat in restaurants. Restaurants had until July 2008 to fully comply. The food industry pushed back hard. Critics called it government overreach and mocked the city as a “nanny state.” But the results were hard to argue with. Restaurant food in the city lost most of its artificial trans fat content within two years.

The New York City ban became a model. It showed that a direct prohibition worked far better than asking people to read labels and make their own choices. Research comparing labeling policies to outright bans found that bans cut trans fat levels in the food supply by 90 percent or more, while labeling alone reduced consumption by only 30 to 50 percent. Other cities and states followed New York’s lead. The pressure on federal regulators grew.

The FDA Finally Pulled the Trigger in 2015

In June 2015, the FDA made its most decisive move. It ruled that partially hydrogenated oils — the main source of artificial trans fat — are no longer Generally Recognized as Safe. That classification, known as GRAS, is the legal foundation that allows ingredients to be used in food. Losing it meant the ingredient could no longer legally be added to the food supply. Manufacturers had until June 2018 to remove it from their products.

The ban did not cover trans fat found naturally in meat and dairy. Those occur at low levels and the research on their health effects differs from artificial trans fat. The 2015 ruling targeted only the industrially produced version. One honest caveat worth noting: some manufacturers replaced partially hydrogenated oils with interesterified oils, a different processed fat whose long-term health effects are still being studied. The swap solved the regulatory problem. Whether it fully solved the health problem remains an open question.

What Actually Won the Fight

The trans fat story is a case study in how food policy actually changes. Science moved first, identifying the danger in the early 1990s. Labeling came next, raising public awareness but leaving a loophole industry used freely. Local government action proved the concept. Market pressure built as consumers and cities demanded cleaner products. By the time the FDA issued its 2015 ban, many large food companies had already reformulated. The ban finished the job the market had started. It took about 25 years from clear scientific evidence to an effective federal ban. That is a long time — but the outcome was real and measurable.