The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) wants to eliminate all trans fats from margarines. The FDA also wants to reduce by 3 percent the amount of the bad stuff in baked goods. The agency believes that would eliminate 17,000 heart attacks and save some 5,000 lives per annum across the fruited plain. "Our estimates of the monetary benefit of removing trans fat are quite large," said FDA epidemiologist Kathleen Koehler, a PhD. "The prevention of heart attacks would save between $2.9 billion to $7.9 billion annually."

Trans-fatty acids are fats that are treated chemically to keep food from spoiling. In the past year, health experts have identified the solid substances as bad news – as bad as saturated fats when it comes to setting the stage for heart disease. Trans-fatty acids also seem to be just about everywhere: in cookies and crackers and cakes, in baked breads, and in vegetable shortening.
One big problem: the FDA's Koehler says the move would save at least $25 billion in health costs over twenty years, but experts in the food industry say the move would require them to spend anywhere from $401 million to $854 million over the same period to remove the trans fats.

The FDA presented a study this week at the American Heart Association (AHA) meeting on Dietary Fatty Acids and Cardiovascular Health. At the very least, the agency will require trans-fatty acid information to be disclosed in an asterisk on labels. If a product has too much trans fat, it won't be able to say it has low cholesterol or none at all. "We are currently reviewing comments on the proposed rule and labeling," Koehler said, "and then we will decide if and when to institute changes. Our studies indicate, however, that removal of just a small percentage of trans-fatty acids from our diet would have a very large impact on [cardiovascular] disease in this country."