Following a motion adopted last month by Parliament, the Canadian government is forming a task force to develop recommendations within a year for regulations limiting trans fat content "to the lowest levels possible."

...Trans fats, which appear on food labels as "partially hydrogenated" or "hydrogenated" oils, deliver a cardiovascular double whammy, raising "bad" cholesterol levels and lowering "good" cholesterol. Food processors like them, however, because they improve shelf life, taste and texture of cookies, crackers, cereals and myriad other products.

...Trans fats came into vogue largely in response to past health worries, first about animal fats and then about tropical oils, such as coconut and palm kernel oil, which are high in saturated fat. But more recent research has shown trans fats to be the most unhealthy fat of all.