As a consumer you are probably used to reading labels such as "NEW!" on food packaging. Intrigued? Well, of course! If something is "NEW!" then it must be worth trying, huh? What if a package has a major design change such as now being available in bite-sized quantities or in 100-Calorie pouches. As the well-informed consumers that we are then it must be worth buying. Let's take another spin on this: "NO TRANS FAT" or "0g TRANS FAT". Little Billy explains to Mom, "it says there is no trans fat and Miss Smith at school said not to eat trans fat because it is bad for you". Do you end up buying this box of snack food? Maybe.
Trans fats do not contribute to one's good health like other dietary fats. Actually, the consumption of trans fats is a leading contributor to heart disease. Trans fats cause bad cholesterol (LDL) to rise and good cholesterol (HDL) to decrease. In essence trans fats clog arteries.
FDA requirements: Food manufacturers are allowed to label a product as having 0g trans fat if it contains less than 0.5g of trans fat per serving. No joke!! I have not found any limit on serving size for the 0.5g rule. Technically, a 0.5g serving of food can contain 0.49g of trans fat while still being labeled as "0g TRANS FAT"!
Dieting? NEWS FLASH: Even some dietary supplements contain trans fat!!!
Watch out for some alternative names for trans fat: partially hydrogenated oil, vegetable shortening, margarine...
