CDC study: Number of TFAs in blood levels on decline

ATLANTA — The amount of trans fats found in blood levels of U.S. white adults has significantly dropped over a nine-year period, according to a study conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The study, published in the Feb. 8 edition of the Journal of the American Medical Association pooled participants from the CDC's National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey in 2000 and 2009. The goal was to examine trans-fatty acid blood levels among this demographic before and after the Food and Drug Administration's 2003 regulation — which took effect in 2006 — that required manufacturers to list the amount of TFAs on the Nutrition Facts panel of a food or dietary supplement product label. The researchers found that TFAs found in blood levels decreased by 58%. The consumption of trans fats increases the risk of coronary heart disease, the CDC noted.

Full details of the study can be viewed here.

"The 58% decline shows substantial progress that should help lower the risk of cardiovascular disease in adults," said Christopher Portier, director of CDC's National Center for Environmental Health. "Findings from the CDC study demonstrate the effectiveness of these efforts in reducing blood TFAs and highlight that further reductions in the levels of trans fats must remain an important public health goal."

Portier added that while the study only provides information regarding TFAs among white adults, additional CDC studies are under way to examine blood TFAs in other adult race/ethnic groups, children and adolescents.

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