How can a food be made with Hydrogenated Oils, but say it has Zero trans fat?

Question

I was reading the nutrient label on some cookies. They have hydrogenated oils and high fructose corn syrup in them, but they say they have 0 grams of trans fat.

Does that mean that per serving, they have less than one gram of trans fat? I thought that if it something's made with hydrogenated oils, then it has to have trans fats. Wrong?

Thanks for helping me understand this!

Answer 1

The nutritional labeling regulations really don't require precise labeling. Depending on the nutrient, the regulations require that it be declared to the nearest number designated in the regulations. I remember looking at a mayonnaise jar and noticing that it had no protein, but it contained eggs.

When they amended the regulation listing what had to be on the nutritional label, they added trans fat to the list that existed before, so it reads like this:

(ii) ‘‘Trans fat’’ or ‘‘Trans’’: A
statement of the number of grams of
trans fat in a serving, defined as the sum
of all unsaturated fatty acids that
contain one or more isolated (i.e.,
nonconjugated) double bonds in a trans
configuration, except that label
declaration of trans fat content
information is not required for products
that contain less than 0.5 gram of total
fat in a serving if no claims are made
about fat, fatty acid or cholesterol
content. The word ‘‘trans’’ may be
italicized to indicate its Latin origin.
Trans fat content shall be indented and
expressed as grams per serving to the
nearest 0.5 (1/2)-gram increment below
5 grams and to the nearest gram
increment above 5 grams. If the serving
contains less than 0.5 gram, the content,
when declared, shall be expressed as
zero. Except as provided for in
paragraph (f) of this section, if a
statement of the trans fat content is not
required and, as a result, not declared,
the statement ‘‘Not a significant source
of trans fat’’ shall be placed at the
bottom of the table of nutrient values.

So the answer is that it can have some hydrogenated vegetable oil in it and still be able to put "0" on the label. Any more than 0.5 grams, and it has to be listed.

High fructose corn syrup has no fat in it at all, so it would not be included in the amount of trans fat in the product.

Answer 2

It's a possibility. It also depends on where in the ingredient list the hydrogenated oil appears. If it's a small enough quantity, there may be less than 1 gram of transfat in a serving, where they might be able to say no transfats on the label. Of course, if the "serving size" is one cookie, that's not going to do you much good, is it?

I'd find another brand of cookie because you don't want to be eating that high fructose corn syrup garbage.

Answer 3

Yes if it is less than 1 gram of trans fat per serving they are allowed to say zero trans fat on the label.

Answer 4

They tell a little fib....
They must report content, but are not require to admit some food values if they are under the limit the regulations require for reporting. Oh and High fructose corn syrup is the next evil to be exorcised from the grocery shelves - toss it from your pantry!

Answer 5

Here is the rub..they can say they are transfat free on anything because the federal gov. does not watch it. If you see hydrogenated oils on a label, you can be sure the food is not going to be good for your body no matter what else they say about low sugars or low salt or transfat free. It cancells out any healthy part of the ingredients.