Trans fat is supremely bad for you. It simultaneously lowers your HDL (the "good" cholesterol) and increases your LDL (the "bad" cholesterol) — all of which can increase your risk of heart disease. Even very small amounts can have a huge effect.
There is no "safe" intake level for trans fat.
Either way, here's the thing: The FDA allows any food with less than 0.5 grams of trans fat per serving to be rounded down to zero.
Yup, it can say "0 g trans fat" and "trans fat free" on the label, and still have nearly half a gram of fat per serving.
Although that doesn't seem like much, if you have four servings throughout the day with 0.49 grams of trans fat, you'll be at your absolute daily max (according to the American Heart Association) without even knowing it!
So read the ingredients. If there is any "partially hydrogenated," the food product contains trans fats and should be avoided.
You also need to watch out for the new "interesterfied" fat. It's actually worse for you than trans fat!
Rule number one don't eat anything which has a health claim one the front of the package. Zero fat is full of corn syrup. Zero sugar has aspartam and god only knows what else!
What about mono and diglycerides of fatty acids? Are these trans fats by another name?!