Trans Fats: What's in a Label?

The trans fat content of foods has been required since 2006 on all labels for foods that contain at least half a gram of total fat per serving. You now see total fat printed in bold type, followed by trans fat. Saturated and monounsaturated fat may be listed on some labels as well. Do we really need this much information?

What are the different types of fat?

Total fat is just that: the amount of all fat in one portion of food. It's important if you're counting calories because fat contains more calories than protein or carbohydrates. People on a low-fat diet, usually to reduce risk of heart disease, also pay attention to the total amount of fat in foods.

Saturated fat is a type of fat that tends to be more solid at room temperature, such as the fat in meat and chicken. Saturated fat raises our body's level of cholesterol and contributes to heart disease. Saturated fat intake should generally be as low as possible.

Trans fatty acids are produced when food manufacturers change a liquid oil to a solid fat, for example, when they make stick margarine or solid shortening. Trans fats increase levels of LDL ("bad") cholesterol and, at the same time, decrease HDL ("good"). It's now believed that trans fats are worse for our heart than even saturated fat.

How much trans fat should we consume?

The short answer: as little as possible There is no percentage daily value listed for trans fatty acids because research hasn't found a safe lower level of trans fats. At this point, the recommendation is to consume as little trans fat as you can, preferably none.

In what foods do you find trans fat?

Ninety-five percent of the trans fat in our American food choices comes from partially hydrogenated oil found primarily in margarine and shortening, and of course in foods that are made using margarine or shortening: cakes, cookies, snack crackers, doughnuts and chips. Foods that are commercially deep-fat fried, such as french fries and fried fish, also may contain trans fatty acids.

You might be surprised to find out that some foods we consider healthy, such as some types of breakfast bars or granola, may contain trans fatty acids.

Reading a food label for trans fat

Trans fat content is listed as grams per serving to the nearest 0.5-gram increment below 5 grams, and to the nearest gram above 5 grams. If a serving contains less than 0.5 gram of trans fat, the content, when declared, must be expressed as "0g."

A word of caution: Just because a food label lists 0 grams trans fat does not mean it's free of trans fatty acids. It could contain 0.49 grams of trans fat per serving; if you ate two servings, you'd get almost 1 gram of trans fat. Check the ingredient list for words such as "shortening," "partially hydrogenated vegetable oil" or "hydrogenated vegetable oil." Those mean the food contains trans fat -- even if "trans fat 0g" is on the label.

This is where paying attention to serving sizes is crucial! If you eat only one serving of a food that contains 0.49 grams trans fat, that's much better than eating two, three or even four servings of that same food and getting almost 2 grams of trans fat or more.

Lynn's recommendation

The addition of facts on trans fat was the first major change to food labels since 1993, so this is important information. Compare trans fat content of all processed foods you buy, and make it a habit to choose the brand that contains the lowest amount (preferably none) of trans fatty acids. Better yet, swap potato chips and snack crackers for fruits and vegetables.

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