By now, Trans Fats are out in the open–they’ll be on the label of every processed good by January 2006: here is the Federal Register that records the Final Rule. But what do you do until then?
There really is no healthy intake of Trans Fats, and it’s not just because they’re the glaze on a donut, or the reason that most store-bought cookies look the same a few months after you bought them. It’s because they’re probably as bad for your LDL (read: Lousy cholesterol) as saturated fat (read:Solid at room temperature). In this study from the Netherlands, people fed Trans Fats had lower HDLs (Healthy cholesterol) than people fed saturated fats.
And arterial aging like this means premature wrinkling of the skin, impotence, and loss of orgasm quality, not to mention heart attack and stroke.
The FDA ruling has passed, making trans fat mandatory on the Nutrition Facts label. The proposed ruling, which was initiated in 1999, was made final in the July 11, 2003 Federal Register (http://www.fda.gov/OHRMS/DOCKETS/98fr/94p-0036-nfr0001.pdf). According to the Federal Register, “this rule is intended to provide information to assist customers in maintaining healthy dietary practices.” The rule becomes effective on January 1, 2006. For more information about the ruling, see this site: http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/qatrans2.html .
Frito-Lay recently eliminated trans fat from Fritos, Tostitos, Cheetos and Lay’s and Ruffles potato chips…but Doritos still seem to have them…