All food products containing partially hydrogenated oils (PHOs) were banned from being sold in stores in the US starting January 1st, 2021:
To allow for time for reformulation, the agency is extending until June 18, 2019 the compliance date to stop manufacturing foods with these specific, limited petitioned uses of PHOs, and until Jan. 1, 2021 for these products to work their way through distribution. [1]
Yet I still see products containing PHOs being sold at grocery stores all the time. How is this possible?
Some guesses:
- Has the FDA updated the deadline again?
- Are manufacturers and stores not complying will the FDA rules (and somehow avoiding penalties)?
- Is this ban not being enforced?
If you live in the US, you can see this for yourself at your local grocery store by looking for "partially hydrogenated oils" in the ingredient list of pastries, doughs, spreads, cookies, and crackers.
