The Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA) today announced it has petitioned FDA to approve specific low-level uses of partially hydrogenated oil (PHOs) in food products.

The petition seeks approval of PHO uses that are important for the production of safe food products—such as when they are used as color and flavor carriers and to deliver certain consumer-desired textural characteristics other oils cannot provide (e.g., flakiness in doughs). GMA said the oils also function as essential processing aids such as pan release agents so that products do not stick to baking trays and rollers during the manufacturing process.

 In June, FDA announced its determination that PHOs are not “generally recognized as safe” or GRAS for use in human food.