Zero trans fat doesn't always mean zero

By STEPHANIE NANO, Associated Press WriterSun Aug 19, 4:57 PM ET
Stroll the aisles of any grocery store and you're sure to spot labels declaring "zero grams trans fat" on the front of snack foods, cookies and crackers. But does zero really mean there's NO artery-clogging fat inside?
Maybe, maybe not.
Federal regulations allow food labels to say there's zero grams of trans fat as long as there's less than half a gram per serving. And many packages contain more than what's considered one serving.
"The problem is that often people eat a lot more than one serving," said Dr. Dariush Mozaffarian of Harvard School of Public Health. "In fact, many people eat two to three servings at a time."
Those small amounts of trans fat can add up, said Michael Jacobson of the consumer advocacy Center for Science in the Public Interest. To find out if there might be some trans fat, he said shoppers can check the list of ingredients to see if partially hydrogenated oil — the primary source of trans fat — is included.
"When it says zero grams, that means something different from no trans fat," said Jacobson. His group has urged the government to bar food producers from using any partially hydrogenated oils at all.
The Food and Drug Administration began forcing food companies to list the amount of trans fat on nutrition labels of packaged foods in January 2006. That led many companies to switch to alternative fats.
Trans fat occurs naturally in some dairy and meat products, but the main source is partially hydrogenated oils, formed when hydrogen is added to liquid vegetable oils to harden them.
Consumer groups and health officials have campaigned to get rid of trans fat because it contributes to heart disease by raising levels of LDL or bad cholesterol while lowering HDL or good cholesterol. Fast-food restaurants are switching to trans fat-free oils and New York City and Philadelphia are forcing restaurants to phase out their use of trans fat.
The American Heart Association recommends that people limit trans fats to less than 2 grams per day.
Julie Moss of the FDA's Office of Nutrition, Labeling and Dietary Supplements, said the half-gram threshold for labeling was adopted because it is difficult to measure trans fat at low levels and the same half-gram limit is used for listing saturated fat. She said the FDA would soon be doing consumer research on trans fat labeling, including whether a footnote such as "Keep your intake of trans fat as low as possible" should be added to food labels.
Robert Earl of the Grocery Manufacturers Association said any trans fat in products labeled zero trans fat is likely to be far less than the half-gram threshold. For example, he said, a little partially hydrogenated oil might be used to help seasoning stick.
"I think the industry has been extremely responsive. Most of them were ahead of the curve to either remove or reduce trans fat in most food products," he said.
Earl said shoppers should be looking at the entire food label.
Jacobson is also concerned that people are focusing too much on the trans fat content alone, and not considering other ingredients such as saturated fat, which also raises the risk of heart disease.
"The bigger problem is foods that have no labels at all," Mozaffarian said, citing food served not only at restaurants, but at bakeries, cafeterias and schools.
New York resident Diana Fiorini said she's just recently started paying attention to labels. Holding a box of microwave popcorn at a Manhattan store, she scanned the label and was happy to see that it listed zero grams trans fat.
"I look at the labels. It's still hard to stop yourself when you know you should," she said.
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On the Net:
American Heart Association: http://www.americanheart.org

NYC eateries ready for trans fat switch

By DAVID B. CARUSO, Associated Press WriterTue Jun 26, 6:36 PM ET
No more trans fats with those french fries? No problem. The city's ballyhooed ban on trans fat cooking oils in all New York restaurants — an idea that gave chefs indigestion when first proposed — seems to be going surprisingly smoothly. Across the city, most fast food chains say they've already made the switch days before the July 1 deadline, which is Sunday.
The same cannot be said for a second restaurant rule taking effect then: the posting of calories on fast-food menus. The major chains are defying that regulation and hope a lawsuit will overturn it.
The city doesn't plan to fine anyone for violating either rule until Oct. 1.
Still, the trans fat overhaul is viewed as a major victory by health advocates. Trans fats, found in partially hydrogenated vegetable oils, clog arteries and contribute to heart disease. But they are also cheaper and have a longer shelf life, so industry at first stubbornly resisted dumping them.
That began to change last winter.
Cooking oil companies had already ramped up production of trans-fat alternatives. Restaurant supply companies began stocking kitchens with replacement products.
Big fast food chains that relied heavily on the old oils, from Burger King to Carl's Jr. to Kentucky Fried Chicken, announced they would eliminate the stuff from their fryers nationwide.
Even McDonald's, which had anguished over the potential impact on its french fries, said its phase-in of the new oils in thousands of restaurants has gone unnoticed by customers.
"The transition has been absolutely seamless," said spokesman Walt Riker.
While the city health department hasn't finished tallying results of a recent survey on oil use, there is evidence that smaller restaurants are ready too.
A special help line, set up by the city for chefs trying to reform their kitchens, has been lightly used.
The ease of the switch to zero-trans oils may have been aided by the behind-the-scenes work of seed and oil companies.
David Dzisiak, a cooking oils specialist at Dow AgroSciences, said the company began investing research dollars in zero-trans fat Omega-9 canola and sunflower oils back when the very first studies suggested the oils were unhealthy.
"We started on this 10 years ago," he said. "We now have the capacity to supply over a billion pounds of this oil."
Resistance to the ban still exists, but it may be primarily on philosophical grounds.
Mat Arnfield, the chef at A Salt & Battery, a much-loved Manhattan fish and chips shop, said any cooks still complaining about the change aren't concerned with taste.
The primary difference between the trans-fat oils and their alternatives, he said, is cost. The blend of corn and canola oils he uses in his frying bins now is slightly more expensive than the partially hydrogenated vegetable oils rich in trans fats, but the price difference is small.
"If they are cutting corners that much," he said of restaurants reluctant to switch, "I wouldn't really trust those guys to make me a plate of food anyway."
Restaurants in the city had never kicked too hard over taste considerations, but they had chafed at the idea that anyone should be telling them how to cook.
And there is still some question about whether the ingredients restaurants are using instead of trans fats are just as bad for you. Restaurants can comply by switching to a cooking oil high in saturated fat, which could clog your arteries almost as quickly.
The tougher transition on trans fats could come a year from now, when the city has ordered artificial trans fats out of all products, not just oils and spreads.
Experts say it may be more difficult to find a good replacement for partially hydrogenated vegetable shortenings, which give baked goods like cookies and crackers their characteristic texture.
"That is definitely a more challenging environment," said Bill McCullough, a marketing director for St. Louis-based Bunge Oils.
Alternatives are available, he said, but culinary researchers are still at work on something that will have the taste and texture of butter or lard and the shelf life of a hydrogenated product high in trans fats.
"We realize as an organization that it is just a matter a time before hydrogenation is gone," he said. Bunge has already stopped marketing products containing artificial trans fats, McCullough said.
"We decided it would be like marketing Marlboro Red cigarettes."