Heart Disease

How much artificial trans fat is still in our food?

Harvard Health Blog

I felt guilty. I looked like any other health-conscious customer in the grocery store, perusing Nutrition Facts labels. But I was really there to hunt down a dangerous ingredient on store shelves called artificial trans fat. It's the worst type of fat in our food supply -- so bad, in fact, that the FDA is essentially banning it in processed food starting in 2018.

But that's a long way off. How much artificial trans fat is on store shelves today?

The fuss about the fat

Artificial trans fats come from partially hydrogenated oils, which are made by a process using hydrogen gas to turn liquid vegetable oils into solids. The fats extend a food's...