WHO Seeks to Wipe Out Trans Fats Worldwide

FILE PHOTO: Visitors eat fish and chips and drink soft drinks at a beach cafe in Brighton, Britain, September 24, 2017. REUTERS/Toby Melvil
FILE PHOTO: Visitors eat fish and chips and drink soft drinks at a beach cafe in Brighton, Britain, September 24, 2017. REUTERS/Toby Melvil
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WHO Seeks to Wipe Out Trans Fats Worldwide

FILE PHOTO: Visitors eat fish and chips and drink soft drinks at a beach cafe in Brighton, Britain, September 24, 2017. REUTERS/Toby Melvil
FILE PHOTO: Visitors eat fish and chips and drink soft drinks at a beach cafe in Brighton, Britain, September 24, 2017. REUTERS/Toby Melvil

The World Health Organization has released a plan to help countries wipe out trans fats from the global food supply, calling for their replacement by polyunsaturated fats.

In a release issued Monday, the UN health agency said eliminating trans fats is critical to preventing deaths worldwide. WHO estimates that eating trans fats leads to the deaths of more than 500,000 people from heart disease every year.

Several countries including Denmark have already virtually eliminated trans fats by introducing legal limits on the industrially-produced oils.

Trans fats occur naturally in meat and dairy products. But the predominant source is industrially-produced and contained in baked and fried foods such as fries and doughnuts, snacks, and partially hydrogenated cooking oils and fats often used by restaurants and street vendors.

In explicit new advice, WHO has said that excessive amounts of saturated fat and trans fat should be replaced by polyunsaturated fats, such as fish, canola and olive oils.

Dr. Tom Frieden, a former director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, called trans fats "an unnecessary toxic chemical that kills," noting that New York got rid of it a decade ago.

WHO says total fat consumption should not exceed 30 percent of total energy intake to avoid unhealthy weight gain.



Many US Ice Cream Producers to Phase Out Artificial Food Dyes by 2028

Volunteers scoop ice cream before a press conference on the steps of the United States Department of Agriculture on July 14, 2025, in Washington, DC. (Getty Images/AFP)
Volunteers scoop ice cream before a press conference on the steps of the United States Department of Agriculture on July 14, 2025, in Washington, DC. (Getty Images/AFP)
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Many US Ice Cream Producers to Phase Out Artificial Food Dyes by 2028

Volunteers scoop ice cream before a press conference on the steps of the United States Department of Agriculture on July 14, 2025, in Washington, DC. (Getty Images/AFP)
Volunteers scoop ice cream before a press conference on the steps of the United States Department of Agriculture on July 14, 2025, in Washington, DC. (Getty Images/AFP)

Dozens of US ice cream producers are planning to remove artificial colors from their products by 2028, a dairy industry group and government officials said on Monday.

The producers, which together represent more than 90% of ice cream sold in the US, are the latest food companies to take voluntary steps to remove dyes since Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in April said the US aimed to phase out many synthetic dyes from the country's food supply.

Several major food manufacturers, including General Mills, Kraft Heinz, J.M. Smucker, Hershey and Nestle USA, have previously announced their plans to phase out synthetic food coloring.

The 40 ice cream companies will remove Red 3, Red 40, Green 3, Blue 1, Blue 2, Yellow 5, and Yellow 6 from their retail products, excluding non-dairy products, according to the International Dairy Foods Association.

The IDFA announced the plan at an event at the US Department of Agriculture headquarters on Monday with Kennedy, FDA Commissioner Marty Makary and Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins.

"We know that our current health outcomes, especially for our children, are unsustainable and that American agriculture is at the heart of the solution to make America healthy again," Rollins said at the event, referencing a slogan aligned with Kennedy.

Rollins and Kennedy have worked closely together on food sector efforts like encouraging states to ban soda from the nation's largest food aid program.

Kennedy has blamed food dyes for rising rates of ADHD and cancer, an area many scientists say requires more research.

The IDFA said artificial dyes are safe, but that ice cream makers are taking the step in part to avoid disruption to sales from state efforts to phase out dyes from school foods and West Virginia's recent food dye ban.