This ingredient doesn’t really add any taste or flavor to the food. All it does is exstend the shelf life making costs cheaper for the company making it. They can still make fried chicken, pizza and french fries without transfats and no one would notice a difference in taste. So no one would choose to have it in their food if they thought about it. You might chose not to look for it like you say, but should you even have to look for it?

If arsenic extended the shelf life of food should we allow companies to put it in the food so they can save money? It’s a poison. The subject sort of reminds me of the Monty Python skit where Eric Idle is in the deli and the guy is saying they have raspberry tart with rat, pudding with rat, etc. Eric Idle says “do you have anything without any rat in it..” Do we really need to ask the people who sell us food if it has rat in it? Although I hear that there is some amount of that in the food just because rats are everywhere - but then again, should we really expect a lot of rat to be in our food. I didn’t think so.

Besides, it’s everything in moderation that keeps us healthy. If someone fancies the odd pizza or fried chicken meal every once in a while, it’s not going to hurt them to do so. The same can be said for alcohol, which actually has its benefits, yet can kill when consumed in excess.

That’s not to say I don’t support TDP’s decision to oppose their commerical use, nor do I hinder Jupiter’s adamant attack on their legality; for the record, I avoid ALL fatty or modified foods and furthermore abstain from eating animals. However, that’s my personal decision and it’s not for anybody else to dictate the lifestyles of others, nor is it up to us to make healthy/unhealthy decisions for other people. Suicide may be illegal, but as thus there seem to be no restrictions on allowing people to slowly kill themselves with KFC.

It’s amazing. At first when you stop eating partially-hydrogenated products you’re constantly thinking, “I can’t eat anything that tastes good!” Then alternatives appear that are sooooo much better tasting

Regarding Jupiter’s comment: the fact that companies are doing something voluntarily only means that consumers are scared. If consumers were afraid of the stuff that’s used to make cheese orange, suddenly all the companies would be selling white cheese. It’s not necessarily an agreement about the health risks, it’s a business decision to stop making things that people won’t buy.

If you want more evidence along those lines, look at a jar of salsa that calls itself ‘fat-free’. Salsa has always been fat free, but in the midst of diet crazes and consumer demand for low-fat foods, the salsa manufacturers decided to point out on their labels that yes, this is a fat-free food and is compatible with your diet. They didn’t change the product. I suspect that some of the foods labeled ‘no trans fats’ are similar — they never contained any to begin with, and the label is pure marketing.