Be Careful of Trans Fats
The state of California recently passed a law to ban the use of trans fats in restaurants (1). This is a huge step toward eliminating the unhealthy fat from the American diet. Previously, cities including New York City, Philadelphia, Stamford, and Montgomery County, Maryland have also taken the initiative.
Trans fat is the result of partial hydrogenation of oils. It’s a very shelf-stable fat that gives food a creamy or oily taste, and also helps preserve the appearance and condition of food. Trans fat is in many snack foods, baked goods and restaurant foods. It is very positively linked to heart disease (the leading cause of death in the U.S.) as well as obesity.
The best way to tell whether a food item has trans fat is to check the label. If the nutrion panel includes “partially hydrogenated vegetable/soybean/cottonseed oil”, then it has trans fat. In many cases, a package may claim that there is “No Trans Fat”. However, you still need to check the ingredients because the law allows a manufacturer to state this if there is less than 1 gram of trans fat per serving. Depending on how many servings you eat, you may be getting too high of a dose. Otherwise, it may be impossible to tell whether there is trans fat in your restaurant meal, or anything else without a label. The best thing to do is to avoid baked, fried, and snack foods as much as possible, and to eat fresh fruits, vegetables, lowfat dairy, lean meats and fish, nuts and whole grains.
For more information on trans fat, visit the following sites and enter in a search for “trans fat”:
American Heart Association
Center for Science in the Public Interest
Food and Drug Administration
(1) STEINHAUER, J. “California Bars Restaurant Use of Trans Fats.” New York Times, July 26, 2008.
