Good knowledge on nutrition is important to help enhance health literacy and promote healthier dietary choices among consumers. Better awareness and understanding of different types of fats and their health effects may also help increase the usefulness of food labels. The US Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) final ruling on trans-fatty acids (TFAs) labelling issued in 2003 has caused a rapid transformation in the oils and fats industries. Recently, FDA also has taken a serious step to revoke the GRAS (generally regarded as safe) status for partially hydrogenated oils (PHOs), which are the primary dietary source of industrially-produced TFA. If it is finalised, food manufacturers would no longer be permitted to sell PHOs, either directly or as ingredients in other food products, without prior FDA approval for use as food additive. Novel ingredients and improved technologies are emerging to replace PHOs in foods.