Revealing Trans Fats - Health

Under FDA regulations, "if the serving contains less than 0.5 gram [of trans fat], the content, when declared, shall be expressed as zero."

Revealing Trans Fats
By Katie Feldpausch

Nutritional Label Scientific evidence suggests that consuming saturated fat, trans fat, and dietary cholesterol elevates low-density lipoprotein (LDL), or "bad" cholesterol levels which raises the risk of coronary heart disease (CHD). In fact, trans fats may also lower high-density lipoprotein (HDL), or the “good” cholesterol that helps your body get rid of cholesterol. The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health reveals that more than 12.5 million Americans have CHD, and more than 500,000 die each year. Therefore, CHD is undoubtedly one of the leading causes of death in the United States.
As of January 1st, all food manufacturers list the amount of trans fat per serving. Knowing the amount of saturated fat, trans fat, and cholesterol on the food label gives you the power to make food choices and can reduce your risk of CHD.

What are Trans Fats?
Trans fats are made when manufacturers “hydrogenate” vegetable oils. Trans fat are often found in vegetable shortenings, some margarines, crackers, cookies, snack foods, and other foods made with or fried in “partially hydrogenated” oils. The majority of trans fat is formed when food manufacturers turn liquid vegetable oils into solid fats like shortening and hard margarine. A small amount of trans fat is found naturally in foods, primarily in dairy products, some meat, and other animal-based foods, but only the man-made trans fats are harmful.

Use the Nutrition Label for Healthy Choices
The Nutrition Facts panel can assist you in choosing foods lower in saturated fat, trans fat, and cholesterol. Compare foods and choose the food with the lower combination of saturated and trans fats.

Trans Fat in Focus
Pretend you eat one serving of food item A, one serving of food item B, and one serving of food item C. Let's act as if each product contains 0.4 grams trans fat per serving. You have just eaten 1.2 grams of trans fat, even though each of the labels claims that the products has zero grams of trans fat per serving!
So make sure you check the ingredients list! If the words "partially hydrogenated" are in the ingredients, the product has trans fat. In addition, if "shortening" is an ingredient, the product more than likely has partially hydrogenated oil, which means it contains trans fat.