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."
"An even 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.
Steve - if you have followed our blog over the last year or so, you have seen us refer the .5 gram rule often. It is unconscionable and another ill-advised decision by the USDA to allow this. What can you do in the meantime? Even if a product says no trans fat, look at the label in detail to see if it has .5 grams of trans fat.
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