Trans fatty acid intakes and food sources in the U.S. population: NHANES 1999-2002.

Penny M Kris-Etherton,Ronald P Mensink,Barbara Petersen,Michael Lefevre,Jennifer Fleming,Brent D Flickinger

doi:10.1007/s11745-012-3704-z

Abstract

Because of efforts to decrease trans fatty acids (TFA) in the food supply, intake should be assessed in the population to establish a baseline TFA intake. The 1999–2002 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) was used to identify a benchmark for TFA intake. TFA was estimated by mean, median, and quintile of intake, TFA intake data were weighted using the NHANES 4-year sample weights. The main outcome measures included TFA intake in grams per day and percentage of energy in the top 25 food sources of TFA. Data are reported for 16,669 individuals ≥3 years of age. Median TFA intake was 2.3 % of calories (5 g/day) with 0.9–4.5 % of energy (1.5–13.1 g/day) over different quintiles of intake. Mean TFA intake was 2.5 % of energy (6.1 g/day). The range of TFA intake in the fifth quintile was very large, i.e., 3.5–12.5 % of energy or 8.8–92.4 g/day. Increasing quintiles of TFA intake were associated with increases in total fat (26.7–37.6 % of energy), saturated fat (7.6–10.5 % of energy), and calories (for those >20 years of age: 2,416–2,583 for men and 1,679–1,886 for women). Major food sources of dietary TFA were cakes, cookies, pies, and pastries. Based on current dietary guidance to consume as little industrial TFA as possible, much progress is needed to attain this goal, including food industry efforts to remove TFA from the food supply and educating the public about making healthy food choices.

Highlights

Dietary recommendations have been made in the United States and globally to decrease trans fatty acids (TFA) produced by partial hydrogenation of vegetable oils [1, 2]
Foods Analysis and Residue Evaluation Program (FARE) is used by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the U.S Department of Agriculture (USDA), the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, and the Health Canada Pest Management Regulatory Agency to derive estimates of food, nutrient, and contaminant intakes based on National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) and Continuing Survey of Food Intakes by Individuals (CSFII) consumption data
It is apparent that males aged 12–19 years have the highest mean TFA intake expressed as grams per day compared with the other populations for each quintile

Summary

Introduction

Dietary recommendations have been made in the United States and globally to decrease trans fatty acids (TFA) produced by partial hydrogenation of vegetable oils [1, 2]. These recommendations are based on numerous studies demonstrating many adverse health effects of TFA [3]. In 2009, legislation to limit TFA in the food supply was enacted in 1 state and proposed in 13 states and the District of Columbia [6]. Based on the success of this approach in New York, it seems that legislative strategies may be an effective strategy for decreasing TFA in foods [7]. The food industry is actively lowering TFA in the food supply by developing new fats and oils and modifying existing ones [9, 10]

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