About the FDA banning

If they don’t want to unduly disrupt markets they could always just opt not to. As is typical of this sort of behavior, it’s going to have a bigger impact on your neighborhood family-run bakery than it will on big chains like Dunkin’ Donuts. Dunkin’ popped to mind because they’re just now breaking into the California market, and the local media is all over it right now. Dunkin’ Donuts started voluntarily dumping trans fats in 2007, which required them to reformulate more than 50 menu items. A big chain like them can manage the transition just fine.

But back when California instituted a ban, some smaller bakeries reported they’d have to raise prices as the ban both increased production costs and also reduced shelf life of their goods. Back around that same time a piece in The Atlantic explored the challenges of replacing trans fats and noted the challenges for certain types of baked goods.

Dunkin’ Donuts replaced their trans fats with saturated fats (read their nutritional guide here), which is another fat with a bad reputation. But in October, a British medical journal argued that the war on saturated fat was misguided, and it was being blamed for heart problems that were likely being caused by carbs and sugar.

The FDA acknowledges that trans fat consumption has already dropped significantly in the past decade so mandating it is necessary why exactly? The Associated Press notes:

Though they have been removed from many items, the fats are still found in processed foods, including in some microwave popcorns and frozen pizzas, refrigerated doughs, cookies and ready-to-use frostings. They are also sometimes used by restaurants that use the fats for frying. Many larger chains have phased them out, but smaller restaurants may still get food containing trans fats from suppliers.

It may end up being yet another barrier to entry for smaller restaurants and producers to compete against established chains.