It seems like every food manufacturing company is jumping on the band wagon with the “no trans fats” labeling.  Sounds healthy, right?  The truth is that these labels can be misleading to the general consumer who does not know what this means.  Trans fats are the bad fats which are man made in which chemical bonds of a vegetable oil, normally liquid at room temperature are changed so it becomes solid at room temperature and more shelf stable.  The fats become chemical bonds which become twisted hence the name “trans.” 

The reason they are so bad is because trans fats have been proven to significantly raise levels of harmful LDL cholesterol, clogging arteries with fatty plaques.  They are much more dangerous than saturated fats which are found in products such as butter and cream cheese.  Nutritional labels often have a low number like 2, 3 or 4 next to the trans fat content section so we often think that’s a good thing.  How would we know how unhealthy that is!  Recent surveys have shown that there has been essentially no education on this subject. 

American Heart Association advises that anything over 2 grams per day is unhealthy and 0 grams is the preferred number.  Dining out or taking out makes watching these numbers rather difficult, after all who wants to ruin the experience by researching every the nutritional content of every meal.  As a result, some major cities like New York and Philadelphia have already or soon will put a ban on trans fats in restaurants. 

To avoid consuming these harmful fats obviously it’s a good idea to check labels when grocery shopping.  Try to avoid processed foods like snacks or baked goods like cookies, prepackaged donuts, or muffins.  Just because a label says little or no trans fats does not mean it’s healthy, you must look at the overall ingredients.  Hopefully, moving forward there will be more straight forward talk and information on this subject.  We will just have to make due for now, but remember – knowledge is power!