I know that I blog often about the dangers to your health from trans fat, but it's because I feel that it's important to stay current with the tricksters. They think they can fool us, but we're hip to their sneaky ways. We are the educated public, and we're not gonna' take it anymore!! Who's with me?!!

If you haven't fallen in line, and are wondering just what the hell I'm talking about when I talk about trickery, it has to do with the methods that many food manufacturers are using to get around the trans fat ban. Case in point: the FDA allows food manufactures to list their products as containing Zero Trans Fat if they contain less than half of a gram. Therefore, these foods can contain .49 grams of trans fat Per Serving (which is also important to remember -- we are talking about serving size here, too) and still be listed as having Zero Trans Fat. This means that if you eat more than the serving size, you are now consuming trans fat -- even in the eyes of the FDA.

A key thing to look for to find out if something truly contains Zero Trans Fat is Partially Hydrogenated Oil. If it does, that means that it DOES contain trans fat, despite its claim stating otherwise. Again, the whole serving size/FDA approval nonsense comes into play. One example of this is I Can't Believe It's Not Butter; the label clearly says: "No Trans Fat." But, upon closer examination of the ingredients -- BINGO! Partially Hydrogenated Vegetable Oils. See what I mean? They're pretty tricky.

Considering that about 40 percent of all foods found in your grocery store contain trans fat, and when you also take into account that some fast food restaurants still fry their foods with partially hydrogenated oils, it is obviously quite difficult to avoid eating trans fats -- even if you are making a concerted effort not to. My advice is to scrutinize labels, avoid fried food entirely, and research products beyond their "Zero Trans Fats" claim.