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By Melissa Tennen, HealthAtoZ writer
Gone are the days of blissful ignorance. Trans fats - the latest demon afoot - are now appearing on food labels.
As of January 1, 2006, food manufacturers are required by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to include trans fats on Nutrition Facts labels.
Trans fats are created when liquid oils are made into solid fats. Some trans fats appear naturally in certain animal-based foods. However, most come from processed products like fried foods, cookies, baked goods and crackers.
Trans fats increase your risk of heart disease by increasing the amount of LDL, or bad cholesterol, in your body. Combining trans fats with too much saturated fat and the cholesterol you get in foods can give you a recipe for heart problems.
Beware. If a product contains less than 0.5 grams of trans fats per serving, the manufacturer is not required to list trans fats on the product label. This means the company can legally claim that a product with less than 0.5 grams of trans fats contains 0 grams. If you eat a cookie with 0.4 grams and then eat some crackers with 0.5, you will have consumed twice the amount of trans fats you thought you were getting. That's bad when you consider that any amount of trans fats can be dangerous to your health.
To see if a product has trans fats, check the ingredient list for the words "partially hydrogenated" or "shortening." These are sure signs that your food has trans fats, even if the Nutrition Facts label says otherwise.
Another problem with trans fats is that they are not listed under the "%Daily Value" columns of Nutrition Facts labels.
Compare nutrition labels and choose foods that are low in saturated fats, trans fats and cholesterol. If the label indicates that saturated fats and cholesterol are 5 percent or less of the daily value (%DV), this is considered low. Twenty percent or more is considered high.
Although removing trans fats is not required by law nationwide, some companies have been working to remove or reduce them in their foods. The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) surveyed manufacturers, supermarkets and restaurant chains to see what they are doing about trans fats. Some restaurant chains have stopped using
trans fats altogether or plan to eliminate them soon. They include:
- Au Bon Pain® - All trans fats have been removed from cookies, muffins and bagels.
- Jason's Deli® - Products no longer have partially hydrogenated oils.
- Panera Bread® - Expects to be trans fat-free by the end of 2006.
- California Pizza Kitchen® - Removed all trans fats from deep-fried foods and is working on cutting it out of other foods.
- Some fast food restaurants. Wendy's® and KFC® have joined the movement and other fast food joints are expected to follow.
Other companies that have been addressing the issue of trans fats include:
- Kraft - Most or all trans fats have been removed from Triscuits®, Wheat Thins®, Chips Ahoy®, Mallomars®, Reduced Fat Oreos® and other foods.
- Gorton's - Partially hydrogenated oils have been removed from fish sticks and fillets.
- McCain - Canola oil is used for all grocery and retail frozen potatoes.
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External Sources
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The Food and Drug Administration
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Center for Science in the Public Interest
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The American Dietetic Association
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This article was reviewed and updated June 2007.
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