Unfortunately, avoiding trans fats isn’t as simple as finding foods with labels claiming them to be trans fat free. To meet the FDA’s definition of “zero grams trans fat per serving,” food doesn’t have to contain no trans fats—it must simply contain less than 1 gram per tablespoon, or up to 7 percent by weight, or less than 0.5 grams per serving. So, if a bag of cookies contains 0.49 grams of trans fat per serving, the manufacturer can claim it’s trans fat free on the packaging.
