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The move would create an enormous hurdle for manufacturers to continue placing the artificial fats in their products.

According to FDA Commissioner Margaret A. Hamburg, reducing the amount of trans fat consumed by Americans could prevent as much as 20,000 heart attacks and 7,000 heart disease-related deaths annually.

Trans fats are partially hydrogenated vegetable oils used for flavor and shelf life. Health experts say they are the most dangerous kinds of fat, as they simultaneously reduce levels of "good" cholesterol and raise levels of "bad" cholesterol in the body.  

The FDA began requiring manufacturers to list trans fats on food labels in 2006, leading many producers to eliminate or substitute them. The result: national intake of the artificial fats declined from more than 5 grams per day in 2006 to only one gram a day in 2012, according to the New York Times. 

But those numbers aren't low enough for the FDA.

"Consumption [of trans fats] should be as low as possible while consuming a nutritionally adequate diet," Hamburg said.

The agency has opened a 60-day period for the public to comment on the proposal and to collect data from food manufacturers regarding how much time will be needed to find substitutes.  

To contact Executive Producer Raishad Hardnett, send him an email at hardnett@usc.edu.