Great news today that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is going to force food manufacturers to eliminate unhealthy trans fats from processed foods over the next few years. These fats, typically signaled by the designation “partially hydrogenated oil” on ingredient labels, make foods taste better and are found in frozen pizzas and dinners, margarine, cookies, crackers and other baked goods, refrigerated dough products and ready-to-eat frosting, coffee creamers, microwavable popcorn, and many other products. While they make foods more palatable, they also raise levels of LDL, the bad cholesterol, and lower levels of HDL, the good cholesterol, increasing the risk of heart disease. That led the FDA to announce that trans fats are no longer “generally recognized as safe.”

For more information, check out the FDA’s announcement.

Till then, look for products that have “no trans fats”…or better yet, eat fresh, real foods rather than processed foods!