--- title: FDA Announces Ban of Trans Fat description: U.S. food manufacturers have three years to remove the primary source of artificial trans fat—partially hydrogenated oils (PHOs)—from their products, federal officials announced on Tuesday. canonical: https://time.com/3922583/trans-fats-hydrogenated-oils/ author: Alexandra Sifferlin article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-06-16T13:52:49.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:58:55.033Z article:section: Health og:title: FDA Announces Ban of Trans Fat og:description: U.S. food manufacturers have three years to remove the primary source of artificial trans fat—partially hydrogenated oils (PHOs)—from their products, federal officials announced on Tuesday. og:url: https://time.com/3922583/trans-fats-hydrogenated-oils/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5955505fbb9257f0/698854abe20a8737eaa8bd83/french-fries.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5050 og:image:height: 2841 og:image:alt: French fries on plate og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: FDA Announces Ban of Trans Fat twitter:description: U.S. food manufacturers have three years to remove the primary source of artificial trans fat—partially hydrogenated oils (PHOs)—from their products, federal officials announced on Tuesday. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5955505fbb9257f0/698854abe20a8737eaa8bd83/french-fries.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Feds to Eradicate Trans Fats from Food Supply By 2018 > Sponsored content. 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Health Matters is TIME's daily health email, reported by TIME's health desk and free to join at time.com/newsletters. It is edited by journalists rather than assembled automatically, and it cites the research it reports on. #### Is Health Matters free? Yes. Health Matters is a free daily newsletter from TIME, available at time.com/newsletters. #### Who reads TIME's Health Matters newsletter? Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. ## Video: The Truth About Fat [Watch (HLS stream): The Truth About Fat](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/uYGhfNfS.m3u8) (5:15)  _Published 2014-06-12. When you want to lose weight or get healthy, what is the first thing you would normally cut from your diet? If you said fat, you're not alone_ by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Jun 16, 2015 1:52 PM UTC  French fries on plate French fries on plate Getty Images by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Jun 16, 2015 1:52 PM UTC The U.S. is officially moving forward on a ban of artificial trans fat, which are linked to heart disease, from the food supply within three years. U.S. food manufacturers have until 2018 to remove the primary source of artificial trans fat—partially hydrogenated oils (PHOs)—from their products, federal officials announced on Tuesday. In 2013, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration concluded that these oils are not “generally recognized as safe” for human consumption. On Tuesday they announced the deadline for food makers to get them out of their products for good. “This action is expected to reduce coronary heart disease and prevent thousands of fatal heart attacks every year,” said Dr. Stephen Ostroff, the FDA’s acting commissioner. Since 2006, the FDA has required that trans fat be listed on nutrition labels, and many companies started removing it already. Some local governments like New York City [banned it in restaurants](http://healthland.time.com/2012/07/17/nycs-trans-fat-ban-worked-fast-food-diners-are-eating-healthier/). The World Health Organization has said there should be a “[virtual elimination](http://www.nature.com/ejcn/journal/v63/n2s/pdf/ejcn200915a.pdf)” of trans fat. The FDA says that between the years 2003 to 2012 it’s estimated that trans fat consumption has dropped 78%. However, [one March report](http://time.com/3894216/trans-fat-hydrogenated-oil/) found that 37% of foods in grocery stores may have trans fat. Until they are removed, you can look for trans fat listed on the product, or “partially hydrogenated oil.” Also keep in mind that companies are allowed to say they have zero trans fat of they contain less than 0.5 grams per serving. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3922583/trans-fats-hydrogenated-oils/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3922583/trans-fats-hydrogenated-oils/"},"headline":"Feds to Eradicate Trans Fats from Food Supply By 2018","datePublished":"2015-06-16T13:52:49.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:58:55.033Z","description":"Companies have three years to complete removal","url":"https://time.com/3922583/trans-fats-hydrogenated-oils/","keywords":["Diet & Nutrition","fat","FDA","Ban"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5955505fbb9257f0/698854abe20a8737eaa8bd83/french-fries.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alexandra Sifferlin","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5955505fbb9257f0/698854abe20a8737eaa8bd83/french-fries.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"French fries on plate","caption":"French fries on plate","creditText":"Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/dietnutrition/","name":"Diet & Nutrition"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3922583/trans-fats-hydrogenated-oils/","name":"Feds to Eradicate Trans Fats from Food Supply By 2018"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"The Truth About Fat","description":"When you want to lose weight or get healthy, what is the first thing you would normally cut from your diet? 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