Have you ever noticed that even though a label may say there are zero grams of trans fat, you see in the ingredients that there is some form of hydrogenated oils? How could this be?
The reasoning is simple. As of Jan. 1, 2006, the FDA required food companies to list trans fat content separately on the Nutrition Facts panel of all packaged foods. This way consumers can easily see how much trans fats are in the foods they choose. Awesome.
However, food and beverage companies only have to list the trans fat amounts if one serving has 0.5 gram or more. Therefore, we should be aware that just because we see zero trans fat on the label of the product, this does not mean that the product is trans free. Don't be too worried because while there may be a trace amount of trans fat in each serving, researchers have found that the amount of partially hydrogenated oil is so small that trans fat content is nutritionally insignificant, unless large amounts of the food are consumed.
Tha'ts awful - a good reason to steer clear of mainstream packaged foods.