Trans Fat Rules Around the World: What Food Businesses Need to Know

Industrial trans fat was once in fried foods, margarines, biscuits and snacks around the world. Today a growing number of countries limit or ban it, and the rules affect anyone who makes, fries or imports food. This guide explains where trans fat comes from, what the main rules say, and how to choose oils and fats that comply.

Where trans fat comes from

• Partial hydrogenation. The main source of industrial trans fat is partially hydrogenated oil (PHO). Hydrogenating liquid oil makes it more solid and more stable, which made PHOs popular for frying, shortening and margarine, but the process creates trans fatty acids.
• Refining. Small amounts can also form when oils are deodorized at high temperatures. Good refining practice keeps these levels low, and suppliers can specify a maximum. Our palm olein and RBD palm oil specifications, for example, limit trans fatty acids to 1.0% max.
• Natural sources. Small amounts of trans fat occur naturally in meat and dairy products from ruminant animals. Most rules target industrially produced trans fat.

The WHO’s recommendation

The World Health Organization has called for industrially produced trans fat to be eliminated from the global food supply, and recommends two “best-practice” policies:

• a mandatory national limit of 2 grams of industrially produced trans fat per 100 grams of total fat in all foods, and/or
• a mandatory national ban on the production and use of partially hydrogenated oils as an ingredient in all foods.

By 2025, nearly 60 countries, covering about 46% of the world’s population, had best-practice policies in force, up from 11 countries seven years earlier, and WHO had validated the elimination programs of countries including Austria, Norway, Oman and Singapore.

Rules in major markets

Market	Rule	In force
United States	Partially hydrogenated oils are no longer generally recognized as safe and may not be added to food without FDA approval	Compliance dates from June 18, 2018; final extensions ended January 1, 2020
Canada	Partially hydrogenated oils prohibited in foods sold in Canada, including imported foods and food prepared in food service	September 17, 2018
European Union	Industrially produced trans fat limited to 2 g per 100 g of fat in food supplied to consumers and to retail	April 2, 2021
India	Trans fat limited to 2% in oils and fats, and in all foods	January 2022 (3% in oils and fats from January 2021)

Many other countries have adopted one of the WHO’s best-practice policies, and others have labeling rules or voluntary limits. Rules change, so check the current requirements in each market you sell in.

Labeling

Where trans fat must be declared, the rules differ in detail. In the United States, trans fat is listed on the Nutrition Facts label, and amounts below 0.5 grams per serving may be declared as zero. That means a product can contain small amounts while showing “0 g”, which is one reason regulators have moved from labeling alone to limits and bans.

In the EU, businesses that supply fats to other businesses, rather than directly to consumers, must tell their customers the amount of industrially produced trans fat when it exceeds 2 grams per 100 grams of fat, so that food makers can comply.

How food businesses replaced partially hydrogenated oils

PHOs were used because they are stable and semi-solid. Their replacements deliver the same functions without hydrogenation:

• For frying: stable liquid oils such as high-oleic sunflower, high-oleic canola and high-oleic soybean oils, palm olein and frying blends. See our guide to high-oleic oil.
• For baking, margarine and shortening: semi-solid fats such as RBD palm oil and palm stearin, and lauric fats such as coconut and palm kernel oil. See our guide to palm products.
• For confectionery and coatings: lauric fats and fractions with a sharp melt.

Sourcing oils that comply

• Ask whether the oil is hydrogenated. Our oils and fats are not hydrogenated.
• Ask for a trans fat specification, especially for refined palm products and frying oils, and check it against the rules in your market.
• Check the Certificate of Analysis. Fatty acid composition, measured by gas chromatography, can report trans fatty acids. Tell us in your quote request if you need trans fat reported for each lot. Our guide to reading a Certificate of Analysis explains the results.
• Keep records. Specifications and certificates for each lot help you show compliance if a regulator or customer asks.

Add the oils and fats you need to your quote list, and tell us your market so we can confirm the right specification.

Sources

• World Health Organization: Countdown to 2023, report on global trans fat elimination
• News-Medical: WHO honors four countries for trans fat elimination (2025)
• US FDA: Final determination regarding partially hydrogenated oils
• Livingston International: Canada prohibits partially hydrogenated oils in food
• Commission Regulation (EU) 2019/649 on trans fat
• FSSAI: Limits on trans fat in oils, fats and foods
• 21 CFR 101.9: Nutrition labeling of food