Thursday, July 11

 
FDA to require trans fat listing on food labels

Research that came out in the late 1980s and early 1990s cited trans fatty acids as being potentially more harmful to the body than traditional evils such as cholesterol, although the current wisdom is that neither is good for you in large amounts. Trans fats are commonly those that have been hydrogenated. If you haven't been near a hydrogen molecule since high school, that means foods that are made with fats that have had a hydrogen molecule added to make them firm enough for use in manufacturing. Margarine is the one that comes to mind first, because it's an oil in its natural state. Many processed foods are made with hydrogenated fats, such as cookies, crackers and microwave popcorn. This story, from the Boston Globe and Associated Press, talks about how the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is thinking about adding warning labels noting the presence of trans fats in a food product.
posted by Unknown 12:27 PM