Many snack foods in the US have gone 'trans-fat free'

Many snack foods and spreads on the market are now free of artery-clogging trans fat, but consumers still need to be savvy label-readers, according to researchers.

In a sampling of packaged foods at a local Wal-Mart, researchers at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis found that a majority of margarines and butters, cookies, cakes and snack foods had gone trans fat free.

However, a number of products still had substantial amounts of the fat, the researchers report in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association.

For example, three of 40 brands of chips, crackers and popcorn contained at least 3 grams of trans fat per serving, according to the products' labels.

So, despite the food industry's move toward cutting trans fat, consumers still need to check labels, according to the researchers, led by graduate student Matthew J. Albers.