Finally! This morning, a Wall Street Journal article (subscription may be required) reported that "... the federal government issued a long-awaited rule requiring food makers to list the amount of harmful, artery-clogging fats known as 'trans fats' on their product labels."
As a result, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will require food companies to modify their nutrition labels, starting in January 1, 2006, to show how many grams of trans fat are in each serving. This means that consumers will have enough information to determine how much "bad fat" they are ingesting, where bad fat = saturated fat + trans fat.
"People should try to keep their intake of saturated and trans fats combined to 10% or less of the total calories they consume each day, says Scott Grundy, a well-known lipid specialist in Texas. That guideline applies not just to adults but to children over age two. The benchmarks are even lower for those already at risk of heart disease or with high cholesterol. They should get no more than 7% of calories from bad fats, for a total of 15.5 grams [based on a 2,000 calorie/day diet] a day."
Compare that to what the average American currently eats - according to the Journal, 15% comes frrom bad fat: 12-13% from saturated fat, and 2-3% from trans fat.
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