In 1957, Dr. Fred Kummerow of the University of Illinois made a troubling discovery — that the arteries of heart attack patients he studied were clogged with a specific artificial fatty acid.
We know now that his discovery identified trans fats, widely considered the worst kind of fats for your heart.
Kummerow embarked on a mission to tell the world about the dangers of trans fats, which come from hydrogen-treated oils used in processed foods.
Nearly six decades later, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is ordering food companies to phase out the trans fats within three years, calling them a public health hazard.
It’s about time.
Once commonly used in processed foods, trans fats have been disappearing. Yet, they still can be found in a few commercial foods like frostings, microwave popcorn, coffee creamers, pie crusts and frozen pizza.
Michael Jacobson, director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, called the phase-out the “single most important thing the FDA has ever done for the healthfulness of the food supply.”
It’s just too bad it took so long.
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