On Jan. 1, the FDA passed new regulations that required all food manufactures to disclose the amount of trans fat in packaged food products.

Now, you can look at any nutritional label and see how much trans fat your favorite foods have. But, I’m getting ahead of myself.

Why stay away from trans fat, you ask? I’ll let the medical literature and scientific studies answer for you. And after reading this article, you might want to carefully choose what to eat at Umphery Lee – and reduce your meal plan for next year.

̢۬Trans fats result from partial hydrogenation, an industrial process used to make a perfectly good oil, such as soybean oil, into a perfectly bad oil. It is used by the food industry for one purpose Рto increase the shelf life of packaged foods such as crackers, chips, cookies and even some breads.

The only problem is that they decrease your shelf life. Trans fats are by far the worst type of fat to ingest.

God never intended you to eat this stuff. Nearly all studies have associated the intake of trans fat with increased levels of LDL “bad” cholesterol, lowering of HDL “good” cholesterol, increased C-reactive protein levels that cause arterial inflammation, a causal factor for type 2 diabetes, and a multitude of other adverse health effects.

Trust me – this stuff isn’t good for you. Several medical doctors at Harvard recently published a report with this finding: “By our most conservative estimate, replacement of partially hydrogenated fat in the U.S. diet with natural unhydrogenated vegetable oils would prevent approximately 30,000 premature coronary deaths per year, and epidemiologic evidence suggests this number is closer to 100,0000 premature deaths annually.”

Even the USDA’s official recommendation is to “keep trans fatty acid consumption as low as possible.” But, the government continues to allow these killer trans fat to be used in pre-packaged foods because of pressure from the multibillion dollar food industry and talented lobbyist in Washington that know how to show politicians a good time.

So, if the government won’t do anything about it, certainly SMU would take an interest in providing its students with healthy dining options, especially considering the thousands of scientific studies that disclose the long-term health consequences of trans fat. Wrong.

Everyday, SMU Dining Services serves food to students laden with trans fats. When I was at Umphery Lee last Sunday night, even the cooking spray used in preparation of my omelet contained partially hydrogenated oil as the No. 1 ingredient, not to mention the cakes, cookies, alfredo sauce, donuts, cereals, breads and other food items they serve.

I often wonder if they have any interest in student health. I usually come to the conclusion that they have very little. And, whether they know it or not, they are directly contributing to students’ health problems later in life.

The worse part about this problem is the hypocrisy of SMU Dining Services. It prominently displays over a dozen pamphlets and brochures about “eating healthy” in Umphery Lee and Mac’s Place, then serves students food with little nutritional value.

So, be careful what you eat at Umphery Lee or Mac’s Place. You will see me there for breakfast, lunch and occasionally dinner, since the school bills me $3,700 for a meal plan, but I won’t be eating there next year. I can spend $9 a meal somewhere else.

Matthew Jensen is a first-year biology and business major. He may be contacted at [email protected].