What is trans fat and what is the deal that foods that have 0 grams trans fat have such an importance that food companies put 0 grams trans fat on the packaging?

Answer 1

Trans fats are unsaturated fats that have had hydrogen atoms forcefully added to them. This makes them then "saturated" with hydrogen. However this causes them to have an irregular shape, so the body doesn't know how to metabolize them (this is better illustrated than explained verbally). They can become incorporated into membranes and tissues in the body where other more natural fats are supposed to be. Trans fats are very dangerous and cause Heart disease.

Now that people know that trans fats are unhealthy, food companies have decided to brag about their product being "trans fat free" so that people will think they are healthy. However this is often deceptive marketing, as these companies are allowed to tout "0 grams of trans fat per serving" on a product even if they have 0.5 g of trans fat per serving or less. Many companies just make the serving size ridiculously small so that they can put "trans fat free" on the label. If you look in the ingredients list and see anything that says "hydrogenated" then you know that there are actually trans fats in the food. It is sneaky.

This is besides the fact that just because a food is trans fat free, doesn't mean it's healthy. Simply the absence of harmful substances doesn't make a food nutritious. Nearly all trans-fat is artificially produced and added to foods (aside from some miniscule portions in some dairy products). Consuming a product just because it is trans-fat free is akin to wolfing down bon-bons because there's "no arsenic added"! Many foods are still packed with sugar, salt and high-saturated fat oils, hardly healthy ingredients. ---- My answer Like that person said before me. I can tell that person that posted before me is really smart on that subject. But anyways, yeah, your body can not use trans fat so it is useless to your body. That is why the labels say no trans fat to get you to buy their product.. I'm pretty sure if you eat too much of it though, then you have a higher risk of heart disease.