Trans-Free and Trans-Fat Free is showing up more and more in our grocery stores! HOORAY! We say its about time! But our food is not yet 100% trans fat free just yet including some that say trans free! Before we proceed, lets clarify just exactly what trans fats are. Trans fats are fats that are created when food manufacturers add hydrogen to unsaturated fats. It is found in margarine, shortening, and peanut butter, fried foods like french fries and fried chicken, doughnuts, cookies, pastries, pie crusts, cake icings, and crackers. Food companies like to use trans fat because it extends the shelf life of products and enhances taste and texture. Trans fat is known to increase LDL (aka bad) cholesterol, while also lowering HDL (aka good cholesterol). It can also clog arteries and risk of heart disease and type 2 (adult onset) diabetes. In other words, this stuff is B-A-D!! Tricky Food Labeling The FDA has mandated that beginning January 1, 2006, all food labels must include trans fats. Some food companies are already starting to include it especially when there are 0 trans fats in the product. This has become a big selling point as consumers become more and more aware of trans fats. However, just because a product says trans-free or 0 grams of trans fat doesnt mean it really is trans-free! If a product has less than 0.5 grams of trans fat, it is allowable to use the phrases trans-free and 0 grams trans fat on the packaging. So that means if a serving of peanut butter has 0.49 grams of trans fat, and you eat two servings, youve eaten nearly 1 gram of trans fat. That might not seem like a big deal, but earlier this year an FDA advisory panel recommended a limit of 2 grams of trans fat a day. So you can see it would be quite easy to exceed that by eating these so called trans free foods! Avoiding Trans Fats It all comes down to checking the label. Just look for partially hydrogenated oil in the ingredients list. Thats the best way of knowing for sure if there are trans fats in your food. Of course, all of this is easily avoided if you stick to fruits, vegetables, lean meats/fish/poultry, and whole grains! |
