Food manufacturers and restaurants are under increasing pressure to eliminate trans fats, or partially hydrogenated oils from foods. Trans fats, fats created by adding hydrogen to vegetable oil to make it firmer, are heart unhealthy as they raise "bad" LDL-cholesterol, lower "good" HDL-cholesterol, and induce an inflammatory response at even low levels of intake (e.g., 2 to 4% of total calories). 

But removing trans fats isn't a simple feat. Trans fats make food products look bigger and better, last longer, and cost less. Cakes, cookies, crackers, bread, and margarine rely heavily on the functionality of partially hydrogenated oils for texture and appearance. So what's the easiest solution? Replace trans fats with saturated fats to give pastries and cookies their light, crispy, and flaky texture. However, since saturated fats are also hazardous to the heart, this doesn't make the food much healthier. But does the food industry care? In the past we've seen many food reformulations where an undesirable component (like fat) was removed only to be replaced with another undesirable component (like sugar). Remember the fat-free phenomena when everyone thought they could eat a whole package of fat-free cookies unaware that the amount of calories in the cookies were just as high because fat was replaced with sugar?

To determine whether the removal of trans fats is resulting in foods with higher saturated fat content, researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health analyzed 83 reformulated products from supermarkets and restaurants. They found that trans fat content was reduced to less than 0.5 g per serving in 95% of the supermarket products analyzed and 80% of the restaurant products analyzed. And after the reformulation, 65% of the supermarket products and 90% of the restaurant products had levels of saturated fat that were lower, unchanged, or only slightly higher than before reformulation. So the food industry does care!

This doesn't me you don't have to read food labels anymore - 65% and 90% isn't 100%. Furthermore, many foods on the market are still undergoing reformulation so looking out for partially hydrogenated oils and saturated fats that may be used as replacements like palm, palm kernel, and coconut oil on the ingredient list is still very important. No ingredient list to look at? Ask your server if trans fat-free oils are used. Or... order a dish that is baked instead of fried!

Mozaffarian, D. (2010). Food reformulations to reduce trans fatty acids. The New England Journal of Medicine, 362(21), 2037-2039.