A large analysis of 22 studies has found that trans fats naturally present in dairy foods such as milk, butter, yogurt, and cheese do not appear to raise the risk of heart disease or type 2 diabetes. The findings are reported in ScienceDaily as a major review of the existing evidence on dairy-derived trans fats.
The review draws a clear distinction between these naturally occurring dairy trans fats and industrial trans fats produced from partially hydrogenated oils. Industrial trans fats have long been linked to cardiovascular harm, and the new analysis does not challenge that evidence. Instead, it suggests that lumping all trans fats together may be misleading.
The authors of the review stop short of saying dairy trans fats are beneficial; the study's significance is that they do not appear to carry the same risk. This could matter for dietary recommendations, which have tended to treat trans fats as a single category to be avoided.