Nutrition Facts Label - Where's the trans fat?

Do you look at the "Nutrition Facts" label on a food product? Did you know that prior to January 1, 2006 trans fat was rarely listed on the label?

The only way you could tell if a product contained trans fat was to carefully read the ingredient list. If the ingredients include the words "partially hydrogenated" as in "partially hydrogenated soybean oil" or "partially hydrogenated cottonseed oil" then the product contains trans fat.

Many product that contained trans fat prior to January 1, 2006 no longer do so. Others contain much less. For instance, if you picked up a package of croutons, it nearly always contained trans fat. Now it is easy to find a brand that has eliminated them.

Unfortunately, it is difficult to find items without trans fat in many food categories. Go to the frozen food isle and pick up a bag of frozen french fries. It almost certainly contains trans fat. There are many more examples.

Why do some products show "Trans Fat 0g" and still include partially hydrogenated oil with the ingredients? Simple! If the product contains less than .5g, they are allowed to round it to 0g.
How much trans fat is safe when it comes to your health?

Bill, Webmaster of cuttransfat.org