May 21, 2013
The government has announced new rules aimed at giving people a better picture of what they're eating.
The Food and Drug Administration is unveiling regulations requiring food labels to list the amount of trans fat in each food.
Trans fat hasn't gotten the attention of its more well-known cousin saturated fat, but health experts say it's just as dangerous to the heart as saturated fat.
FDA chief Mark McClellan says the new label requirement means trans fat can no longer, in his words "lurk, hidden, in our food choices." Health Secretary Tommy Thompson says trans fat is all too common.
An official with the Center for Science in the Public Interest calls the new rule a "good first step." But she cautions the labels won't tell how much of a particular product counts against a person's daily allotment of total unhealthy fat.
The group had petitioned the FDA 10 years ago to make the label change.
