I was reading a story at The Burlington County Times about Girl Scouts cookies dropping trans fats. While that’s great news, and this is an exciting trend to watch, that’s not what caught my attention.
The Scouts’ annual cookie drive begins Friday, and this year the federal Food and Drug Administration says labels on the organization’s cookies may include the words “zero grams of trans fat.” … Some of the cookies will still have a small amount of the fat. The FDA allows food manufacturers to say a product has zero trans fat if it contains half a gram or less per serving.
That’s interesting. Sure enough, the FDA’s FAQ page includes the following:
Q: Is it possible for a food product to list the amount of trans fat as 0 g on the Nutrition Facts panel if the ingredient list indicates that it contains “partially hydrogenated vegetable oil?”
A: Yes. Food manufacturers are allowed to list amounts of trans fat with less than 0.5 gram (1/2 g) as 0 (zero) on the Nutrition Facts panel. As a result, consumers may see a few products that list 0 gram trans fat on the label, while the ingredient list will have “shortening” or “partially hydrogenated vegetable oil” on it. This means the food contains very small amounts (less than 0.5 g) of trans fat per serving.
Just goes to show – get to know the ingredients instead of relying on the numbers.
