Home › Back Issues › January 2006

New Labeling Helps You Avoid Trans Fat

Any day now, after investing 30,000 hours in research and testing, Kraft Foods will introduce an Oreo cookie that contains no trans fat. The company, like other food manufacturers, has been scrambling to meet a Jan. 1 Food and Drug Administration (FDA) deadline adding trans fats to Nutrition Facts labels: All packaged foods with a half-gram or more of trans fat per serving must now fess up.

Did you know…

Out of breath? See your doctor. A study of 17,991 patients showed those short of breath were four times likelier to die from cardiac causes within three years.

Ask Tufts Experts

• A local specialty-food store was passing out an article about canola oil that says canola oil is an industrial oil, genetically engineered rapeseed, and “deadly for the human body.” Should I stop using canola oil?

Abstracts

• Waist-to-Hip Ratio Predicts Heart Risk Better Than BMI
• NewsBites
• From the Lab to Your Lifestyle: 8 Ways to Be Healthier in 2006
• FDA Allows Watered-Down Tomato Claims vs. Cancer, Nixes Lycopene Claim
• Antibacterial Soaps Don’t Beat Plain Soap—But May Risk “Superbugs”
• Latest Nutrients Report Card Shows Some Failing Grades
• Midlife Exercise May Reduce Later Dementia Risk