Trans fats labels appearing on grocery shelves soon

• First, dedicated calorie counters looked to limit their diet to low-calorie foods.
• Then, no-carb and low-carb eating gained dieters' attention.
• And a few months ago, the new food pyramid offered fresh eating guidelines for consumers.
• Now, doctors are warning folks to cut trans fat from their diets for better heart health.
• Shoppers seeking these comfort foods may start noticing the words "trans fat" popping up on nutrition labels at grocery stores.
• The U.S. Food and Drug Administration excluded trans fats when they set nutrition label standards in 1993.
• But outcry from consumer and science advocacy groups made the regulatory agency review the fat's health risks, according to an FDA Web site.
• By next year, the FDA will require food manufacturers to identify the amount of trans fats in their products.
• In Denmark, trans fats have even been banned from food items.
• But short of a similar ban in the United States, how are consumers to shop without making nutrition label reading a part-time job?
• Brown County resident Phyllis Klosinski said an easy shopping rule to remember is fresh is best.
• That May, her husband, Michael Klosinski, underwent quintuple bypass surgery after a routine checkup showed high cholesterol and clogged arteries.
• By doing so, they avoided many shelved, prepackaged items that are common homes for trans fats.
• The Klosinskis also started walking a few miles each day on the treadmill, since doctors recommend exercise in addition to changing eating habits.
• Registered dietitian April Adams says looking at the whole nutrition picture is key.
• The Johnson Memorial Hospital employee said the recently revamped federal food pyramid may help shoppers make better choices.
• Of that number, trans fats, which fall under the saturated fat category, should make up less than 10 percent.