NutritionDoc

"0 g Trans Fat!" says the label of Nestle Crunch Ice Cream Bars. Sounds like zero threat to the arteries, no? NO!

Each bar has 11 grams (half a day's worth) of sat. fat. To avoid tricking consumers who might assume that any trans-free food is good for their hearts, the Food and Drug Administration considered placing limits on the sat fat in products that make "trans-free" claims.

Thanks in part to industry opposition, the agency never reached a decision. So "trans-free" is illegal on food labels until the FDA defines the claim.

But "0 grams trans fat" is perfectly fine, say the feds. Talk about loopholes.

It is not just Nestle Crunch. You will find "0 grams trans!" claims on dozens of foods that are not low in sat fat, like Mrs. Smith's Apple Pie (7 gms of sat), Mrs. Paul's Crunchy Fish Fillets (5 gms), Nestle Toll House Chcolate Chip Cookie Dough (3 gms) and Land O'Lakes Margarine (3 gm).

Another FDA bunder: if the label says "0 grams trans", a serving of the food may have as much as 0.49 grams of trans fat, which is NOT trivial.