US FDA Extends Certain Compliance Deadlines on Trans Fat Ban, Denies Petition to Amend the Rules

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has extended certain compliance deadlines related to its 2015 ban on industrially produced trans fatty acids (IP-TFA) in food but denied a petition to amend the rules.  The denied petition, according to a Food Business News report last month, was submitted by the Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA).  The petition asked FDA to amend food additive regulations to include the use of partially hydrogenated oils (PHOs) in certain food applications.

However, FDA extended the compliance date until June 18, 2019 for companies that make products falling under three specific applications.  1) PHO or a blend of PHOs used as solvent or carrier, or component thereof, for flavouring agents, flavour enhancers and colouring agents intended for food use, provided the PHOs contribute no more than 150ppm of (IP-TFA) to the final product; 2) PHO or a blend of PHOs used as a processing aid, or a component thereof, provided the PHOs contribute no more than 50ppm of IP-TFA to the final product, 3) PHO or a blend of PHOs used as a pan release agent for baked foods at levels up to 0.2g/100g in pan release spray oils, provided the PHO contributes no more than 0.14g of IP-TFA per 100g of spray oil.