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September 5, 2007 at 6:11 pm
Hi all!
My name is Jennifer and I’m new to the I’m Organic team and Blog. My passions are health, wellness, and most of all, nutrition. I’d like to first discuss one of my favorite hot-button issues … trans fatty acids!
At this point in time most of us know all about trans fatty acids … or “trans fats.” I am so happy that more and more people are recognizing them and understanding how truly awful they are for our bodies and our health and longevity. Trans fats are, simply, partially hydrogenated vegetable oils. Vegetable oils are normally liquid at room temperature – so to harden them and make them a solid, manufacturers partially hydrogenate the oil – a very man-made process – in order to make the liquid oil a solid at room temperature. This is very handy in processed foods that have to sit on shelves for a long time and it enables processed food to have a particular taste and texture. The oil will no longer “separate out” of the food (like in natural peanut butter, when you have the layer of oil on top) when it is hydrogenated, which is desirable in processed foods – but very undesirable to your body. Trans fats have been shown to be more dangerous than saturated fats and have also been shown to raise levels of bad cholesterol and lower levels of good cholesterol, an extremely bad situation. Ick! Yuck!
There is a particular issue surrounding trans fats that is of great concern to me, and that is the new rules and regulations surrounding their labeling on food products and nutrition labels. “Trans Fat” now appears on its very own line in our beloved Nutrition Facts Label that appears on every known food product – you know, the black and white box that lists serving size, caloric content, total grams of fat, total salt, protein, etc. The new rules and regulations stipulate that manufacturers supply consumers with grams of Trans Fat on the Nutrition Facts Label …
But here’s the evilest loophole …
As long as the particular serving size of any product contains 0.5 grams of trans fat or less, the manufacturer of that food product is allowed to quote “0″ grams of trans fat on the Nutrition Facts Label AND on the front of the package (“0 grams of Trans Fat per Serving,” you will often see emblazoned on the front of most packages these days)! To me, “0″ means zip, zilch, nada, nope, none … the ABSENCE of something … not the presence of something in small amounts. 0.5 grams does not equal 0 grams! Especially when you take into account the fact that most people eat 3-4 servings of most foods at a time – especially processed foods, where trans fat becomes an issue. So suddenly, that 0.5 grams gets multiplied by 3 or 4 and you’ve got a substantial amount of trans fat. But when the average consumer, diligently trying to avoid trans fat, sees all of these packages bearing the relief-inspiring message, “Zero grams of trans fat per serving!” they think they’re in the clear. They don’t check the ingredients list – they look at the Nutrition Facts Label and see that it is clearly marked: Trans fat, 0 grams. But there aren’t zero grams! See what I mean by the evilest loophole?
The only way to be truly sure that your favorite food product is free of trans fat is to ignore the claims on the front of the package, ignore the Nutrition Facts Label, and check the actual ingredients list. Look for the words “partially hydrogenated.” That tells you, pure and simple, that that product contains trans fatty acids – no matter what the Nutrition Facts Label says. So there! Take that, FDA! We won’t be fooled again!
Please pass this information on to your friends and family – it’s very important and I’ve been very surprised by how many people do not know this. The vast majority of people who are conscious of trans fats and try to avoid them are actually ingesting them on a regular basis due to the fact that they only check the Nutrition Facts Labels. They’re not wrong in doing so – the system is just horribly misleading … due to this evilest of loopholes. This information is vital to your health and longevity – avoiding foods containing trans fat is that important.
Please comment and post any questions you may have! 
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Hi Jennifer!
Nice post, and you are so right. That is just plain evil that food producers can lie on their packaging. I do usually read the labels of my food (that’s why it takes me a long time to shop). Another yucky ingredient is high fructose corn syrup.
Can’t wait to hear more from you!
Comment by Deb — September 5, 2007 @ 8:06 pm
Alot of manufacturers are starting to use “fractionated oils” instead of hydrogenated oils. So watch out for “fractionated oils” which are higher in saturated fats.
Comment by HeathAshli — September 6, 2007 @ 3:52 pm
I read somewhere that a lot of times when manufacturers take something out of the ingredient list that is bad, they often put something else in the product to composate for the original ingredient. This new ingredient could be just as bad as the original, but in a different name that no one recognizes.
Example: The chemical parabens is being replaced by some other chemical that we the public might not be aware that it is just as dangerous as the original ingredient.
My question is: What are they putting in our foods that are so called “Trans-fat Free” to composate for the hydrogenated oils that they used to put in the ingredient list. I see a lot of palm oil lately in the ingredient list…how do you rate this oil? Do you feel that this “Trans-fat Free” new products are good for you with the new replacement ingredients?
Thank-you for you answer Jennifer…
Itatiaia
Comment by Itatiaia — September 6, 2007 @ 5:54 pm
Hi there, Itatiaia!
What a super question …
Manufacturers are now forced, essentially, to work within the realm of nature’s existing fats – saturated, monounsaturated, and polyunsaturated. They avoided working within this realm before because trans fats were so cheap and provided exceptional shelf life, taste, and texture. You are right, however, to generally fear and mistrust replacement ingredients – often times, the replacements ARE worse than the original offenders. In this case, however, we are all better off … for the most part because there is NO fat worse than a trans fatty acid – it’s the worst of the worst, the baddest of the baddies. This makes any natural replacement worlds better – and by natural, I mean any fat that falls within nature’s existing realm, that which I referenced above.
These naturally occurring fats are what manufacturers are now using instead of trans fats, thankfully. Yes, you may see more saturated fats in products now instead of trans fats – but believe me, it’s a very positive change. Your body recognizes and knows how to process saturated fat, whereas trans fat is such a foreign, man-made substance that your body literally does not recognize it. It’s part of the reason that trans fats wreak such havoc in your body. So while you should limit your intake of saturated fat, it is infinitely desirable to trans fat.
Most companies are switching over to health-friendly oils like canola, sunflower, and safflower to replace trans fatty acids in their products. When a solid (saturated) fat simply cannot be avoided in a particular product, it is now in the form of palm oil or butter – although rarer is the butter case due to cost. So yes, Itatiaia, you are absolutely right about seeing a rise in palm oil lately. It is one of the major replacements for trans fatty acids.
How would I rate palm oil? Well, it is one of the oils highest in saturated fat content, which is the least desirable of all naturally occurring fats (polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats are much more heart-healthy). However, like I mentioned earlier, everyone’s diet has a certain amount of saturated fat and it does occur naturally in many foods. Saturated fat is okay – and normal – in moderation, whereas trans fat is never okay, not even in moderation. Palm oil is a naturally occurring substance that is found in nature and I’m therefore fine with its consumption in moderation. It is far better – far, far better – than trans fat, so replacing trans fat with palm oil is certainly acceptable.
However, I do have an important caveat …
Most of the foods out there that are now scrambling to go trans fat-free and replacing the trans fat ingredients with other ingredients aren’t the healthiest or most desirable foods anyway. In fact, they are almost all foods that should be consumed in moderation, even if the manufacturer has eliminated trans fat. The reason for this is simple: These foods are still highly processed, no matter how much trans fat they contain. These food products are typically cookies, graham crackers, regular crackers, chips, dips, snacks, and other food products that come in brightly colored packages. For the most part, these are bad news. They’re certainly not an apple and they’re certainly not a banana. So just consume in moderation and try to stick to more unrefined, whole foods.
At least it’s nice, though, that we can eat a bag of potato chips when we want to indulge and we can actually find a brand made without partially hydrogenated oils. I like to think that now there’s cleaner junk food out there.
Hope this answers your question! Thanks again for asking …
Jennifer
Comment by Jennifer — September 6, 2007 @ 8:31 pm
AMEN!!!!!!!!
Thanks for the truth.
Comment by debbie — September 7, 2007 @ 9:58 pm
I’ve read somewhere not only partially hydrogenated oils contains trans-fat, hydrogenated oil, mono-and di-glycerides contain trans-fat as well. So take note. They are even present in all commonly found bread. I’ve managed to find only one brand (other than from health food stores) that dont have them. It is not easy to find products without all these ingredients but it is worth the effort.
Comment by ming — September 12, 2007 @ 6:19 pm
Thank-you so much Jennifer for taking the time to answer my question. You cleared up a lot of my confusion. What is going to be your next subject and how often do you write about something new? You Rock…Itatiaia
Comment by Itatiaia — September 20, 2007 @ 3:27 am