An article published in the January/February 2011 issue of the American Journal of Health Promotion reveals that misleading labeling practices can result in medically significant intake of harmful trans fat, despite what you read on Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved labels.
Consumers' inability to identify high-risk foods may cause individuals to exceed the daily recommended value of 1.11 grams of trans fat from processed foods and lead to adverse long-term health side effects. Current law requires that fat content of greater than five grams be listed in one gram increments, less than five grams be listed in .5 gram increments, and lower than .5 grams as containing zero grams of fat. Meaning, if a product has .49 grams of trans fat, the label can list the trans fat content as zero, thus masking a significant amount of trans fat that can exceed recommended limits and potentially lead to various adverse health effects. Because the daily recommended amount of trans fat from processed foods is only 1.11 grams, one would only need to consume a few deceptively labeled trans fat foods to exceed the healthy recommended intake.
Research shows that increasing daily trans fat consumption from .9% to 2.1%, or from two grams to 4.67 grams, will increase one's risk of cardiovascular disease by 30%. Researchers recommends the FDA revise its labeling protocol in order to prevent misleading the public about the amount of trans fat they are consuming.
Steve - we have reported on this issue since they changed the labeling requirements for trans fat. Here is an easy way to discern if trans fat is an issue: if you see the word "partially hydrogenated" in the ingredients, do not consume it.
Friday, January 14, 2011
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