Trans fat warning: avoiding these worrisome food additives.

There's a new label in town: Trans fat-free labels are on everything from snack foods to cereals. And by 2006, all food manufacturers will be required to divulge just how much of the substance is in their products.

According to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), trans fats, or partially hydrogenated fats, are in nearly half of all cereals, 70 percent of cake mixes, 70 percent of chips and crackers, 80 percent of frozen breakfast baked goods and 90 percent of all cookies.

There's probably no more important food issue right now than transfats, says Richard Delaney, MD, a cardiologist and presentive medical specialist in Milton, Massachusetts, "which is why paying attention and reading labels is so important."

Some manufacturers are ahead of the deadline and have removed hydrogenated fats entirely from their products. Some will wait until the bitter end before listing trans fat content. And others will use an existing loophole and tell you that their products are trans fat-free, even though that max not be entirely true.

Looking at the label

This gaping loophole is due to an FDA leniency that allows manufacturers to say that a product has no trans fats if it contains fewer than 0.5 grams of hydrogenated fats per serving. So if you eat more than the single serving size or eat a couple of trans-free products at the same time, the 0.5 gram rule means nothing.

The ruling came about because the FDA considers 0.5 grams to be a negligible health risk, even though the Institute of Medicine says that any level of trans fats is dangerous to health.