Trans Fat, now you see it now you don't.

As the saying goes, "You are what you eat". But, in this case, and in Today's world, "you ARE what you didn't even know you were eating".

I have always been a proponent of being pro-active when it comes to your health. You have all heard it before, "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure". With that in mind, the more you can educate yourself about your own health, the less you will be led around like sheep from the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) and Corporate (Pharmaceutical Companies) America. Or, maybe not...

Currently, any food products (non-supplemental) must contain labeling which states exactly what a product contains. This is federal law, which has tons of local and states' laws interwoven. Okay fine. ¹But what you may not know, is that through intensive lobbying, food corporations have negotiated with the federal government (FDA) to be able to exclude ingredients (ie; Trans Fat) if they measure below a certain amount. In fact, according to a New York Times article, Barbara Schneeman, director of the Office of Nutritional Products, Labeling and Dietary Supplements for the FDA, blames it on unreliable detection methods.

The bottom line is, you have to be diligent when reading labels. Don't rely on the quantity portions of food labels. Look also at the "ingredients" list. If you see anything saying "partially hydrogenated", then you know that product has trans fats and the higher up on the list, the more that product contains that ingredient.

¹Drawn from my own conclusions, by simply studying changes from past to current laws, standards and regulations within the food, nutrition and supplement industries.