Trans Fat Ban Sparks Conspiracy Theories

BreakingModern — If you thought you knew everything there was to know about healthy foods, think again.

The recent news of the FDA’s ban on trans fat has been drawing some attention to conspiracy theories about foods that have been previously known to be healthy. All food companies have until June 18, 2018, to remove all trans fat from foods and those existing foods from grocery stores.

trans fat

Susan Mayne, director of the FDA’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, issued a statement about the recent decision.

“We made this determination based on the available scientific evidence and the findings of expert panels.”

But there’s a problem. Mayne’s statement implies that food manufacturers have been out to make consumers unhealthy while gaining a huge profit from it. Also, there appears to be a contradiction in past studies. Some common foods we all thought were unhealthy are now seen in a new light.

Take chocolate, for instance. A recent program on National Public Radio said, “Eat a little chocolate each day and you could be doing your heart a favor.”

This notion is based on findings that chocolate lovers had a lower risk of cardiovascular disease and strokes compared to people who didn’t eat chocolate.

Another example is the Daily Mail’s headline that read, “A cider a day keeps the doctor away, say scientists.”

How could foods originally identified as unhealthy suddenly become a health option?

This also raises the question: What does it mean to be healthy? When it comes to good health, the lines are often blurry. The World Health Organization has its own website dedicated to that particular topic.

According to the organization, being healthy includes a number of things from the environment, not just eating the right foods. Still being healthy is important and will save the U.S. in the long run.

trans fat

Reported by U.S. News, Dr. George Benjamin, executive director of the American Public Health Association even said that changing oils would cost us much less going forward.

“A healthier food supply is absolutely critical in supporting good health and reducing chronic disease related to poor nutrition … obesity and food insecurity,” Benjamin said.

Though the FDA has made progress through the years slowly building up to the ban of trans fat, they have a lot more work to do to ensure food companies follow through on removing those products.

For BMod, I’m Alicia Chinatomby.

Featured Image Credit: Fractured Prune Donut by Mr.TinDC via Flickr

Image Credit: Potato Chips. Wikimedia Commons

Alicia Chinatomby

Author: Alicia Chinatomby

Based in New York City, Alicia Chinatomby covers trends and personalities for BreakingModern. Follow her at @AliciaC_7 on Twitter.

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