Fewer trans fats in fast food, but that doesn't mean they're healthy

Fast food
A typical fast food meal.
BEN STANSALL/AFP/Getty Images

If you've ordered food from a drive-thru recently, your fries likely have less trans fat than they would have 10 years ago.

A new University of Minnesota study followed fats at five major fast food chains: McDonalds, Burger King, Wendy's, Jack-in-the-Box and Dairy Queen.

The results: their fries now have significantly less of the fatty acids that can raise cholesterol levels and increase the risk of coronary heart disease.

But, that doesn't mean value meals have become healthy.

To talk about how the University of Minnesota's School of Public Health is tracking the fats in your fast food, we've called Dr. Lisa Harnack. She is director of the Nutrition Coordinating Center and she said they had plenty of data for their decade-long study.