The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) made it a requirement in 2006 for companies to list trans fats on nutrition labels. However, just because a food now says “No Trans Fats” does not mean it is good for you and void of bad fats.

Trans fats, also called trans fatty acids, is an artificially produced fat made with a chemical process known as hydrogenation. The hydrogenation process, which was developed in the early 1900s, solidifies liquid fats (plant oils) by adding hydrogen atoms to it. It increases the food’s storage (shelf) life and increases the length of time that flavors are retained.

Trans fats are called by this name because hydrogen atoms are created in double bonds that reside “across” from one another. The Latin word for “across” is trans. The end product of the hydrogenation of partially hydrogenated oils is trans fats, which has made unsaturated fats more saturated.

The first commercial product that used the hydrogenation process was Crisco, produced by Procter & Gamble, in 1911. Crisco (an abbreviation of the term crystallized cottonseed oil) is a brand of shortening made completely from vegetable oil.

However, now that companies are trying to distance themselves from trans fat in order to make their products healthier (or maybe just look healthier) for their customers, some are doing a good job at making healthier products while others are only substituting one bad fat for another bad fat.

Some companies--the good ones--are replacing saturated fats and trans fats (bad fats because they elevate a person’s LDL (bad) cholesterol and reduce the HDL [good) cholesterol]) with unsaturated fats (which reduce bad cholesterol and increase good cholesterol) and advertising that such a change can reduce the risk of heart disease.

However, other companies--the bad ones--are simply switching from trans fats to saturated fats, which is also a bad fat to eat.

Although research has not verified it, fully hydrogenated oils are being used in some cases instead of partially hydrogenated oils. Preliminary research shows that the ingestion of fully hydrogenated oils causes an increase in the incidence of inflammation, which can contribute to heart disease.

Scientists agree that trans fats from partially hydrogenated oils are more of a health risk than those oils occurring naturally. They also recommend that people stay away from fully hydrogenated foods, until more research verifies its status as either good or bad.

Basically, the good fats are the ones that contain monounsaturated oils. They are contained in foods like canola, olive, peanut, and sesame oils, avocados, olives, and most nuts.

Foods with polyunsaturated oils are also good to eat, but not as good as monounsaturated ones. They are contained in such foods as corn, safflower, soybean, and cottonseed oils, mayonnaise, walnuts, salmon and fish oil, salad dressings, and seeds (such as sunflower and pumpkin).

The bad fats are the saturated fats and trans fats. They are contained in bacon, butter, coconut, cream, ice cream, lard, palm and palm kernel oil, hydrogenated and partially hydrogenated fats, shortening, and nondairy creamers.

More information on how to tell the difference between good and bad fats can be found at HealthCastle’s “Good Fats and Bad Fats”: http://www.healthcastle.com/goodfats-badfats.shtml.

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