How to Find Detailed Information About Trans Fats

Saturated fats increase your blood cholesterol levels, which increases your heart attack risk. Just as harmful are trans fats. Trans fats come from adding hydrogen to vegetable oil. While trans fats increase the shelf life of food products, they also increase the bad cholesterol known as LDL cholesterol and reduce the good HDL cholesterol. Follow these steps to find out more trans fats information.

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Instructions

1. Read the nutrition facts panel on food products. Since 2006, the FDA has required food manufacturers to list the amount of trans fats. All nutrition panels should be checked each time you consider buying something. Similar projects can be manufactured differently with one cookie maker using trans fats and another not.

2. Check the FDA website (see Resources below) to find the latest research on trans fats. You'll find that the greatest sources of trans fats in the American diet come from processed starchy items like cakes, cookies, doughnuts, French fries and more.

3. Understand that nutritional panels do not show a Percent Daily Value for trans fats, because there is no acceptable daily allowance.

4. Look in the list of ingredients even if the nutrition facts panel lists no trans fats. The FDA only requires manufacturers to list trans fats if more than 0.5 grams are found in a serving. Check whether the list of ingredients includes partially hydrogenated oil or shortening. If so, that is a trans fat. If a meal includes three items with 0.4 grams of trans fats in each food item, then you are ingesting trans fats.

5. Ask whether trans fats are used in preparing food when eating out. If you frequent a chain restaurant, look on their website for nutrition information.

6. Contact the Ban Trans Fats coalition about the latest trans fat information. This group targets food manufacturers and restaurants that use trans fats. They convinced Kraft to eliminate trans fats in Oreo cookies. The website can explain who is cooperating and who isn't in the reduction of trans fats.

7. Research the effects of trans fats on your health from the American Heart Association online. Not only will the AHA provide you with more information about trans fats, but you can find out what your trans fats limits should be with the "My Fats Translator" tool.

Tips & Warnings

• New York is among cities initiating trans fats bans. See Ban Trans Fats for other cities looking at banning trans fats.
• Remember that even if the trans fat content is below 0.5 grams per serving, few people stick to one official serving size when eating processed foods or junk foods like potato chips. There may be too little trans fat to register in a single serving of 12 chips, but half the bag will load you up with significant artery-clogging potential.

Resources

• Find out more about trans fats at Ban Trans Fats.

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