Girl Scout cookie lovers everywhere can now feel a little bit better about purchasing their favorite snack -- all eight brands of cookies are newly free of trans fats.

"Our customers have wanted us to take the trans fats out of the cookies for a while," said RaeLynn Cox, director of communications for the Hemlock Girl Scout Council, which covers most of Central Pennsylvania.

All varieties of Girl Scout cookies now comply with Food and Drug Administration regulations regarding trans fats, Cox said. The different varieties include the three "mandatory" brands offered by every troop, Thin Mints, Shortbreads and Peanut Butter Sandwiches, as well as other optional cookies such as Caramel deLites and Lemonades.

"Girl Scouting has always been committed to healthy living and healthy lifestyles, and the trans-fat free cookies help promote healthy eating," Cox said.

Fat is chemically altered to be straighter rather than bent, creating trans fats, said Rose Martin, instructor in the Department of Nutritional Sciences at Penn State.

Martin said trans fats have been linked to coronary heart disease.

"Trans fats increase your risk of cardiovascular disease and raise LDL cholesterol," she said.

Not only do trans fats raise LDL cholesterol -- the "bad kind" of cholesterol -- but they also lower HDL cholesterol -- the "good kind" of cholesterol, Martin said.

Martin said the average person eats 5 grams of trans fats per day. According to the FDA, trans fat can be found in vegetable shortenings, some margarines, crackers, candies, fried foods and other processed foods made with partially hydrogenated vegetable oils. The FDA recommends that trans-fat intake be kept as low as possible.

"The evidence is pretty consistent that trans fat is something we should have less of," Martin said.

As of Jan. 1, 2006, the FDA required that the amount of trans fat in a serving be listed on a separate line under saturated fat on the nutrition facts panel on the side of food containers.

The FDA estimates that three years after the effective date, trans fat labeling would annually prevent 600 to 1,200 heart attacks and save 250 to 500 lives.

The new requirements for food labels encourages manufacturers, like those who bake Girl Scout cookies, to voluntarily reformulate products to reduce the amount of trans fats, according to the FDA.

"Customers have been very happy about the change to trans-fat free cookies. They have noticed very little change in taste and are pleased we've made the change," Cox said.

Campus Girl Scouts President Jessica McGlinn said she did not see a difference in taste between the cookies from last year and the trans fat-free cookies from this year. She said she saw the change as a positive step.

"It helps people who buy the cookies and eat them and promotes healthy eating, which we try to promote anyway through badges, programs and other events," she said.