A lot of people complained about the “food police” when trans
fats were targeted by as a primary contributor to heart disease.
Food manufacturers were required to list trans fats on food
labels and some communities issued outright trans fat bans. The
regulations are bearing fruit. A new study has found that the
amount of trans fats coursing through American arteries has
dropped dramatically in the past decade. Trans fats, or trans
fatty acids, are partially hydrogenated vegetable oils typically
found in processed food. Studies have linked trans fats to
increased risk of heart disease, sudden cardiac death, and high
cholesterol. Trans fats resulted from turning cottonseed and
soybean oil from a liquid to a solid well-suited for baking and
frying. Believe it or not, back in the 1980’s health activists
endorsed trans fats. Crisco, the most classic trans fat of them
all, was considered a healthy alternative to lard. However, by
the mid-1990s, scientific studies turned up evidence that trans
fats increased “bad” a