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Tips to Spot Hydrogenated Fat/Trans Fat in Foods
Trans fatty acids are also called hydrogenated fats. When you add hydrogen
to liquid vegetable oil and then add pressure, the result is a stiffer fat,
like the fat found in a can of Crisco. Trans fats are also called hydrogenated
fats. Public health experts warn that these kinds of fats clog arteries and cause obesity.
University of Maryland Medical Center registered dietitian Mary Beth Sodus
offers
- Look at the ingredient listing. The current NUTRITION FACTS label does not
help identify trans fats.
- Watch out for hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated (soybean, canola, cottonseed
or other oil).
- Look to see if the hydrogenated oil is in the first 3-4 ingredients. If
it is, this generally means there is a lot of it in the product and you will
want to avoid it.
- One current "trick" food manufacturers use is to break up the
components of the food (such as coating and the filling). They can take up
half of the ingredient listing with a full description of the first component
and its ingredients, such as the inside filling of the food item, thus "hiding"
the second ingredient, often hydrogenated fat, which appears later into the
product listing.
- Don't be fooled by fast food restaurants. The phrase "we cook in vegetable
oil" can mean liquid or hydrogenated oil. Even the phrase "no cholesterol
containing all vegetable oil" can be misleading, for vegetable oil can
raise your body's cholesterol if it is a hydrogenated or partly hydrogenated
vegetable oil.
This page was last updated on: April 19, 2007.
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