There'salotoffocusontransfats（反式脂肪）thesedays．Wereadaboutitinthenews，andthere'stalkofpassinglawsagainsttransfats．We arebombardedwith theword．Unfortunately，mostpeopledon'tknowwhattransfatstrulyareandwhytheyaresobadforus．Alotoffoodproductioncompanieswanttogetyourdollarsbyprinting"TransFatFree"ontheirlabel （标签）．Sadly，theymaynotbetellingthetruth．

Sowhatisatransfatreally？Atransfatisaliquid （液体） fatthatisturnedintoasolid．Althoughthereareverysmallamountsofnaturaltransfatsinmeatanddairyproducts，mostofthemarecreatedbyaddinghydrogentoliquidfat．Food-makersdothisbecauseitmakestheproductlastlongerontheshelf．Haveyoueverwonderedwhycookiescanstillbecrispyand"tasty"aftersixmonthstoayearonastoreshelf？It'sbecauseoftransfats．Transfatsaretypicallyfoundinthingslikedonuts，Frenchfries，cookies，microwavepopcorn，andpotatochips．

Whyaretransfatsbadforyou？Transfatsraisethebadcholesterol（胆固醇）inyourbodyandlowerthegoodcholesterolthatthebodyneeds．Fattyfoodsdocauseoverweight．Transfatsbuildupinthebodyandblockbloodflowtotheheart．Peoplewhosedietcontainsahighpercentageoftransfatsareatriskofheartdiseaseandstroke．

Whycanthefood-makerslabeltransfatfreewhenitisn't？Becauseofthewaythenutritionlabelinglawswork，theFDA （FoodandDrugAdministration） hasallowedthatifafoodhaslessthan0.5gramsperserving （一份） itcanbeclassifiedastransfatfree．Readthelabelandyoumaydiscoverthatthepackageactuallycontains6servings，andifyoujustatethreeofthem，youmighthaveeaten1.49gramsoftransfats．

Besides，inmostfastfoodrestaurants，ingredientandnutritioninformationarenotlisted．Youmaybeshockedifyouknowwhatyouareeating．AnarticleinMen'sHealthmagazinepointedthatinKFC，hydrogenated（氢化的） oilsappeared91timesamongtheingredientsfromthemenulist．

Howdoyoureallyknowiftherearetransfatsinthefoodyouareeating？Onewaytotrulyunderstandwhatyouareeatingistoreadthelabel．Anotheristounderstandyouringredients．Anythingonthelabelthatsayshydrogenatedorpartiallyhydrogenated，evenifthepackagestates"Tran