Hunting Down Trans Fat

The truth is that trans fat hides out in all kinds of products. Trans fats are in obvious places like doughnuts and cookies, but also in not-so-obvious foods such as bean dips and bread. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has asked all food manufacturers to disclose the trans fat content of their foods on the Nutrition Facts label by 2006 - by which time most will have taken steps to minimise or take these fats out of their products. Other countries have no doubt taken steps of a similar nature. For now, you'll have to do a little detective work of your own to find them.

Look for the words hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oil - code for trans fats - on labels. If partially hydrogenated oil is among the top three or four ingredients listed, you'll want to choose something else (the higher up an ingredient is, the more the product contains). But beware of a common trick: If a food, such as pie, has two or more components, the maker may list the low-fat one first (e.g. the filling followed by the fat-dense component (the crust). Read carefully.

Even after the new labels come out, some trans fats could sneak under your radar. The FDA allows any food with less than half a gram per serving to be called 'trans-fat free.' Half a gram might seem like nothing, but if it's a products you use a lot of - say, margarine - those half grams can add up quickly.

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