0g Trans Fat is NOT Trans Fat Free

As consumers become more and more aware of the health risks associated with the consumption of trans fats such as heart disease, manufacturers have become clever in how they adhere to new FDA labeling requirements.

Trans fats are oils that have been chemically altered to saturate the fat with hydrogen, creating a saturated fat from an unsaturated fat. This essentially thickens the oil so it remains more solid at room temperature. This process creates a substance that resembles but is not the same as saturated fat, and because of this presents a health risk believed to be far greater than that of saturated fat consumption.

As consumers become more aware of this threat, manufacturers have begun to reduce the trans fat content of foods, and in some cases eliminate it. However, because trans fats are inexpensive and extend the shelf life of foods, manufacturers often resist completely removing trans fat.

Consumers are in effect tricked when they see a package that says, "0g Trans Fat." In most cases this means the product does have trans fat in it.

I'm sure that doesn't sound right, and that's what the food companies want you to think. The FDA requirements allow them to label it 0g if a single serving contains less than 0.5 grams of trans fat. So if the serving size is small enough and the content is .49 grams or below, it can be labeled 0g Trans Fat.

Because we often eat far more than a single serving of any food, it is easy to get more than 2 grams of trans fat from a food touted to have 0g of trans fat. Many health experts recommend 2 grams per day as an upper limit for trans fat consumption, though the USDA does not have a recommended daily value for trans fat.

On the other hand, foods labeled "Trans Fat Free" or "No Trans Fat" should not contain any trans fat at all. The simplest way to tell is to check the ingredients. If the product contains any oil that is hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated, then there is at least some quantity of trans fat, even if the label says 0g.

Look carefully before you select your foods. A few years ago the USDA estimated that 40% of all foods sold in grocery stores contained trans fats. This seems to diminishing, but not nearly fast enough.

Do your body a favor and cut out the trans fats entirely. Support legislation as in New York City and Philadephia to ban trans fats in restaurants.

Read more tips like this on my blog at http://www.fitdaily.com/blog.aspx

There is a wide-scale campaign to ban trans fats in the United States. The same people who sued Kraft in 2003 over the trans fat content in Oreo cookies and caused them to remove trans fat from the product are spearheading this movement. You can find more information on them at http://www.bantransfats.com