Health claims

The oats in Cheerios might indeed help some people modestly lower their cholesterol levels. And the government often allows such health claims as long as there's a disclaimer on the label describing the evidence. But many consumers never get around to reading the fine print.

In this case it says that the evidence for the cereal's benefit comes from a study showing that consuming two servings of Cheerios a day can help when it's part of a diet that's also low in saturated fat and cholesterol. The lesson here: Don't read too much into a manufacturer's health claims.

Nutritional claims

How did partially hydrogenated vegetable oil wind up on the ingredients list of this popcorn, which is supposed to contain no trans fats? The FDA allows products to be labeled as containing "0 g trans fat" if they have less than 0.5 grams per serving. That's not a lot, but it can add up, especially if you eat several servings.

The real key to what's in a product is the ingredients list, which arranges components in descending weight order.