How To Avoid Trans Fats In Food And When Eating Out?

Trans fats are a type of dietary fat that raises bad cholesterol and lowers good cholesterol, increasing your risk of heart disease. The most reliable way to avoid them is to read the Nutrition Facts label and check the ingredient list for “partially hydrogenated oil,” which is the primary source of artificial trans fats in food. When eating out, ask your server whether the kitchen uses shortening, margarine, or pre-made baked goods, since these are common sources you cannot see on a menu.

What Are Trans Fats and Why Should You Avoid Them?

Trans fats are created when liquid oils are turned into solid fats through a process called hydrogenation. This process gives foods a longer shelf life and a desirable texture. The same process also makes them harmful to your health.

Artificial trans fats raise LDL cholesterol, the type that clogs arteries. They also lower HDL cholesterol, the type that helps remove cholesterol from your bloodstream. This combination increases your risk of heart disease and stroke.

There is also a naturally occurring form of trans fat found in meat and dairy products from ruminant animals like cows and sheep. The amounts are small, and research has not shown the same clear health risks as artificial trans fats.

The Food and Drug Administration determined that partially hydrogenated oils are no longer “generally recognized as safe” for use in human food. Most food manufacturers in the United States removed them by 2018, but older products may still be on shelves, and some imported foods may contain them.

How To Avoid Trans Fats In Food And When Eating Out?

The most effective strategy is to stop relying on the front of the package. Labels that say “0 grams trans fat” are allowed to contain up to 0.5 grams per serving if the food also contains partially hydrogenated oil. That small amount adds up if you eat multiple servings.

Check the ingredient list instead. If you see the words partially hydrogenated oil, the product contains trans fats regardless of what the front label claims. Fully hydrogenated oil is different and does not contain trans fats, so do not confuse the two.

When you eat out, you lose the ability to read labels. Fast food chains and restaurants often use commercial shortening for frying and margarine for baking. These ingredients are cheaper and have a longer shelf life than butter or oil.

Ask direct questions. Ask if the fried foods are cooked in liquid vegetable oil or solid shortening. Ask if the baked goods are made with butter, margarine, or shortening. Ask if the pie crust or biscuits are made from scratch or come pre-made.

Pre-made and frozen dough products are common sources of trans fats. This includes pie crusts, crescent rolls, biscuits, and frozen pizzas. When you order these items at a restaurant, you cannot verify what went into them.

Which Foods Are Most Likely To Contain Trans Fats?

Some food categories are more likely to contain trans fats than others. Knowing these categories helps you know where to look and what to ask about.

• Fried foods like french fries, fried chicken, and donuts
• Baked goods including cookies, cakes, pies, and pastries
• Microwave popcorn and some movie theater popcorn
• Non-dairy creamers and some flavored coffees
• Refrigerated dough products like biscuits and cinnamon rolls
• Frozen pizzas and frozen breakfast items
• Crackers and some packaged snack foods
• Margarine and vegetable shortening

These foods are not guaranteed to contain trans fats today. Many manufacturers reformulated their products after the FDA ruling. But these are the categories where trans fats historically appeared, and they remain the places to check carefully.

How To Read a Nutrition Label for Trans Fats

The Nutrition Facts label lists trans fat as a separate line under total fat and saturated fat. If the number is greater than zero, the product contains trans fats.

If the number says zero, check the ingredient list anyway. The FDA allows a product to claim zero grams of trans fat if it contains less than 0.5 grams per serving. This is called the rounding rule.

Look specifically for the phrase partially hydrogenated oil in the ingredients. This is the only ingredient that tells you for certain that artificial trans fats are present.

Also check the serving size. A product with 0.4 grams of trans fat per serving can legally say zero. If you eat three servings, you consumed 1.2 grams of trans fat without ever seeing a number on the label.

What About Naturally Occurring Trans Fats?

Dairy products and meat from cows, sheep, and goats contain small amounts of naturally occurring trans fats. The main one is called conjugated linoleic acid, or CLA.

Research on CLA has shown mixed results. Some animal studies suggest potential benefits, but human studies have not confirmed meaningful health benefits. The amounts in food are small enough that most experts do not consider them a major health concern.

The evidence clearly points to artificial trans fats as the harmful ones. Public health organizations have focused their warnings on partially hydrogenated oils, not on naturally occurring trans fats in whole foods like milk and beef.

This does not mean you should eat unlimited amounts of butter or fatty meat. Those foods contain saturated fat, which has its own health considerations. But you do not need to obsess over the small amounts of natural trans fats in whole animal foods.

How To Handle Eating Out Safely

Full-service restaurants are easier to manage than fast food because you can ask questions. Fast food is harder because the kitchen is behind a counter and staff may not know the details of every ingredient.

Here are practical questions to ask at any restaurant:

• What oil do you use for frying?
• Is it liquid oil or solid shortening?
• Do you use margarine or butter?
• Are your baked goods made in-house?
• Do you use pre-made dough for bread and pastries?

Liquid vegetable oils like canola, sunflower, and soybean oil do not contain trans fats. Solid shortenings and stick margarines are the products to worry about. If the kitchen uses liquid oil, your fried food is likely free of artificial trans fats.

Chain restaurants are required to provide nutrition information in the United States. This includes trans fat content. You can check the restaurant’s website before you go or ask for the printed nutrition guide at the location.

Independent restaurants are not always required to provide this information. In those cases, asking questions is your best tool.

Is There a Safe Amount of Trans Fat?

There is no established safe level of artificial trans fat consumption. The World Health Organization has called for the complete elimination of industrially produced trans fats from the global food supply.

The American Heart Association recommends limiting trans fat intake to less than 1 percent of your total daily calories. For someone eating 2,000 calories per day, that is about 2 grams or less.

This recommendation is based on the absence of any health benefit and the clear cardiovascular risks. Even small amounts consumed regularly can contribute to heart disease risk over time.

The practical takeaway is to treat artificial trans fats as something to avoid entirely rather than something to keep under a threshold. Because the FDA has largely removed them from the food supply, this is easier now than it was a decade ago.

Common Myths About Trans Fats

One common myth is that “0 grams trans fat” on a label means the product is completely free of trans fats. As explained earlier, this is not always true due to the rounding rule.

Another myth is that “fully hydrogenated oil” is the same as partially hydrogenated oil. Fully hydrogenated oil is saturated fat, not trans fat. The hydrogenation process is complete, so no trans fats remain.

Some people believe that “cholesterol-free” means a product has no trans fats. Cholesterol and trans fats are completely different things. A plant-based product can be cholesterol-free and still contain trans fats.

Another misconception is that natural butter is a major source of trans fats. Butter contains small amounts, but the primary dietary concern has always been artificial trans fats in processed foods.