A report issued by the European Commission (EC) calls for a legal limit for trans fats in industrial applications. The report examined trans fat content of foods within Europe and found that though the majority of food products in the European Union (EU) contained less than 2 grams of trans fats per 100 grams of fat, there are still some foods in the market with higher levels.
Dietary surveys indicated that the average daily intake of trans fats was below 1% of the daily energy intake in nine EU countries for which the data was available, but some subpopulations were shown to be exceeding that. The report says that these subpopulations are at risk of overconsuming trans fats as long as products containing them are available in the markets without labeling regulated by EU legislation.
The report also looked at different measures to protect consumers’ health without adding to food producers’ burdens, including mandatory labeling of trans fats, setting legal limits for trans fats, and voluntary reductions of trans fats by the food industry. The EC plans to conduct a full impact assessment to collect more information, which will inform future policy decisions.
