Trans fatty acids are a type of fat, the third type aside from unsaturated and saturated fats. They are found naturally in minute amounts in animal products, but most in our diet come from processed foods that contain partially-hydrogenated oils. These are liquid oils that have been subjected to high pressure in the presence of hydrogen, fundamentally altering their structure to make them into a soft solid. Food manufacturers love their long shelf life, ability to stand in for other solid fats (like butter and lard), and their softening properties for many foods. Your body, however, is not be so fond of trans fats; they have been found to be more detrimental to your health than even saturated fats.

While saturated fats raise both types of blood cholesterol—the bad LDL and good HDL—trans fats raise the bad and lower the good. A double whammy to your heart. They also make blood platelets stickier and more likely to form clots. All of this is shown to lead to an increased risk for heart disease, the number two killer in the United States.

HUDS has been consistently eliminating trans fats from our offerings for the past four years, and this fall of 2007 we've given them the boot! All items in our residential dining and campus restaurant menus are trans fat-free. Many of these items are also available from Crimson Catering, our on-campus catering service. Just ask!

We eliminated partially hydrogenated fats from our frying oil in 2003 and switched to a trans fat-free French fry, both thanks to working with Legal Seafoods. HUDS eliminated all other fried potato products until we could find a trans fat-free source. Other fried foods containing trans fats have been taken off our menus. And we have switched many baked goods to companies' who's products contain no trans fats.

Some of these products have been reformulated to remove partially-hydrgenated oils completely. And some now have a small enough amount of trans fats per serving to be listed as 0g. The USDA's labeling rule states that if a product has less than .5g trans fat per serving, it can be listed as zero. While this is the law, it also makes us aware again of how important portion control is to our health.

Food producers are constantly testing new recipes to eliminate or drastically cut back on trans fats, and we will continue to monitor products' ingredients and nutrition information. We will also update nutrition information regarding trans fats as suppliers provide us with that info.

Since most trans fats in our diet come from highly processed foods, start eating more whole foods. While all of our items have 0g trans fats per serving, if you're concerned about any artificial trans fat intake become a label reader! The phrase "partially hyrdrogenated" is your clue that the food has any trans fats in it.