Canadians used to be among the highest consumers of trans fats, but for now the government will not say whether it will follow the United States’ lead and ban them.
On Thursday the U.S. Food and Drug Administration proposed banning artificial trans fats in processed food, saying the elimination could prevent 20,000 heart attacks and 7,000 heart-related deaths each year.
Canada’s health department issued a statement saying it is aware of the proposed actions of the FDA and “it will be closely following the implementation of these actions.”
Canada has voluntary limits
Canada has set voluntary goals to limit trans fats and Health Canada says 80 per cent of pre-packaged foods have reached the voluntary target reduction goals.
Foods that may contain these partially hydrogenated oils include:
- Crackers, cookies, cakes, frozen pies and other baked goods.
- Microwave popcorn products.
- Frozen pizza.
- Vegetable shortenings and stick margarines.
- Coffee creamers.
- Refrigerated dough products (such as biscuits and cinnamon rolls).
- Ready-to-use frostings.
Dieticians repeatedly recommend Canadians eat less processed food and more fresh fruits and vegetables.
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