“No Trans Fat” is Not Necessarily True…Yet

We probably all remember about 10 years back when it came out that there was this ‘other’ fat in our food called “trans fat”.  According to this article, back in 1999, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) first proposed the idea of requiring that manufacturers post trans fat amounts on their Nutrition Facts labels, and in 2006 that became effective.

What happened was that manufacturers scrambled to change their recipes so that, when the time came to have to post trans fats on their labeling, they could proudly show that their product(s) had none of the deadly fat present.  As a side note, trans fats are created in the hydrogenation process when hydrogen is added to vegetable oil.  The hydrogenation process helps add longer shelf life, and also helps to clog arteries, raise blood pressure and cause heart disease.

The thing is, the article also states that trans fats can still be found in several foods…stuff like crackers, microwave popcorn, coffee creamers, packaged pastries, etc.  The article states at the end that even if a food claims to have 0 grams of trans fat, manufacturers can say so if the product has less than 0.5 grams.  And if partially hydrogenated oil is in the ingredients, there is likely still a small amount of trans fat in there.

This is the kind of information that is important for you and I to know.  Why?  Because we think that we’re doing well in certain circumstances, when, because of certain unclear FDA rules, we’re not doing as well as we thought.

Thankfully, the FDA is in the process of determining whether or not partially hydrogenated oils are safe, and if not, they are trying to determine how to phase them out of the food system.

My opinion is that you not wait for the government; take control of your own health.  It is best to avoid all hydrogenated (partially or fully) oil products.  If you avoid packaged foods and eat mostly real food (fresh meats, fruits, vegetables, etc.), aside from trace amounts in meat and milk, you will easily avoid consuming most sources of deadly trans fats.

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