It’s no surprise that fire fighting is one of the most dangerous of all professions, but the risks don’t always involve fires or other obvious hazards associated with fire fighting. The fact is, heart disease is the number-one cause of death – nearly half of on-duty fire fighter deaths are the result of cardiac arrest. Next to driving an engine, the most dangerous thing fire fighters do is eat.

We are what we eat, and one of the biggest threats to your health comes from trans fats, artificially made fats that clog arteries and increase levels of bad cholesterol in your body – and which are linked to an increased risk of heart disease and diabetes.

What Are Trans Fats?

Made by combining liquid vegetable oil with hydrogen to create partially hydrogenated oil – or trans fatty acids – this man-made fat was originally developed to protect us against the health risks associated with butter. Turns out, trans fats act like butter once ingested. Think shortening and margarine. These fats are liquids turned solid, so instead of melting as they would in their natural state, they revert to their waxy, solid makeup inside your arteries.

Because trans fats are cheap and increase the shelf life of many processed foods, they get added to a wide variety of products, including chips, French fries, cookies, crackers, muffins and other baked goods. Trans fatty acids are also found naturally in small quantities in some foods including beef, pork, lamb, butter and milk, but most trans fat in the diet come from hydrogenated oils.

Using Food Labels to Guide You

How much trans fat is safe? No one really knows, but the good news is that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is requiring manufacturers to list trans fats on food labels, making it easier to screen these fats out of your diet. Check ingredient lists for aliases like “hydrogenated” and “partially hydrogenated.” The higher these ingredients are on the label, the more trans fat they contain.

At restaurants, ask what kind of oil is used – you want olive oil, not shortening. Also when eating out, stick to soup and salad and avoid the bread, which can be filled with trans fat.

Many food manufacturers have removed trans fats from their products, but restaurants use them because they are tasty and stand up well to heat in deep frying. In New York City, the Board of Health voted unanimously last fall to require restaurants in the city to stop using trans fats in their cooking – a move that could be duplicated across the country.