Does Less Trans Fat Make Food Healthier?

French fries are shown in this 2007 file photo in Southfield, Mich. A major change in the national diet is under way: Heart-damaging trans fat is rapidly disappearing from grocery aisles and restaurant food, too. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio, FILE) (Carlos Osorio - AP)

"You need to find a replacement for a solid fat that doesn't have the health implications, and that's the tougher battle," says Susan Borra of the International Food Information Council. "We are changing the entire fatty acid profile of the food supply, and we're not sure we know what it's going to look like at the other end."

And that's where the concern comes in. Merely substituting saturated fat for the trans doesn't give the food more bad fat altogether than before, but it doesn't make it a healthy choice either, Eckel explains.

So the heart association is beginning a major campaign to teach consumers about the different fats and how to tell what foods they're in. (It's partly funded by a 2005 court settlement in which McDonald's was accused of being too slow to remove trans fat.)

How much fat is too much? Federal guidelines say between 25 percent and 35 percent of total daily calories should come from fats, but the bad fats should make up only a fraction of that. The heart association says less than 7 percent of total calories should be saturated fat _ the average American gets about 11 percent now. Trans fat should be less than 1 percent of calories, half today's average.

A centerpiece of the heart campaign is a Web-based calculator _ at http://www.americanheart.org/facethefats_ so consumers don't have to do that math. It tallies just how many grams of fat people of different ages and exercise habits can fit into a day, with lists of foods that fit the bill.

For some people, a single meal of a cheeseburger and small fries would just exceed the daily limit of bad fats. Others who are taller and more active could fit in two burgers and be OK.

Many companies are searching for trans fat alternatives that are healthier than saturated fats, Borra stresses. Indeed, the heart association brought together food makers, food chemists and health experts to explore all the options last fall, and among those generating interest are different ways to blend liquid and harder fats, in hopes of reducing the artery-clogging portions.

For now, reading the food label _ the Nutrition Facts panel on the back of the package, not just the "trans-free" icon on the front _ is key, says Michael Jacobson of the consumer advocacy Center for Science in the Public Interest.

___

EDITOR'S NOTE _ Lauran Neergaard covers health and medical issues for The Associated Press in Washington.