Countries like Austria, Hungary, Norway, Denmark, and Iceland, have banned Coffee Mate for one of its key ingredients — hydrogenated oil. It’s because trans fat — a type of fat typically found in hydrogenated oils — is responsible for raising bad cholesterol while lowering good cholesterol, thereby increasing your risk of heart disease, diabetes, heart attack, and stroke.

In 2019, the European Commission passed legislation that limited trans fats in processed foods to 2%. However, in the U.S., a product can be legally labeled as trans-fat-free if the serving size of it contains 0.5 grams of trans fat or less — and since Nestle’s intended serving size is 1 tablespoon, the brand gets away with listing "trans fat" as 0 grams on the creamer’s label.

In reality, hydrogenated vegetable oil is the second ingredient in Coffee Mate's original powdered creamer. Fortunately, for those who want to avoid trans fat but don’t want to give up on the coffee creamer, Coffee Mate offers a few legitimately trans-fat-free products, including its original liquid creamer, which is made with coconut oil.