Those Sneaky Trans Fats - Now You See 'Em, Now You Don't!

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Those Sneaky Trans Fats - Now You See 'Em, Now You Don't!

http://www.healthbeatnews.com/TransFatHype.htm

05/15/07 By Nurse Mark

 

Trans fats – despite the hype, they really haven’t gone away…

 

We hear it almost daily – this food maker, that restaurant chain, even entire

cities claiming “No trans fats!†and “0 grams trans fats!†This really

should be reason to celebrate, given the toxic nature of trans fats, right?

Yeah,

right!

 

Perhaps the most important thing to note when reading the label claims for

these trans-fat-free foods is what they are claiming for a “serving sizeâ€

– is

it something like a half-dozen potato chips, a tablespoon of salad dressing,

or one piece of fried food? C’mon folks, let’s get real – can you stop at

6

potato chips? I know that I can’t, if I let myself get started… (Yes, I

confess: I do sometimes allow myself the sinful indulgence of some of these

greasy,

salty, acrylamide-laden, trans-fat bombs… we’re all human, after all!)

 

The reason that this is important has to do with the regulations that our

mighty FDA has set forth for food makers when it comes to trans fats. You see,

in

the eyes of the FDA, anything less than 0.5 grams of trans fats per serving

is irrelevant and can be called zero!

 

Now, the measurement of 0.5 grams is a little hard for many of us to grasp. I

know it is for me, anyway, and I’m from Canada, where the metric system of

measures was “adopted†(some say it was more like “forced on them†–

but that’

s another story…) many years ago. So I sat down and tried to find some frame

of reference that I could wrap my brain around and make some sense of.

 

First I thought, what are trans fats? They are simply fatty acids – oils –

that have been modified by the addition of hydrogen molecules, usually on

purpose in order to solidify liquid oil into margarine or shortening. Sometimes

fats are damaged by processing or heat, and can become trans too. This process

is

called hydrogenation – it basically takes a less dense liquid oil and alters

it so that its molecules can “pack together†more tightly, hence becoming

more solid.

 

OK, enough of the science – my eyes were beginning to glaze over just trying

to explain it. In practical terms, what I was after was some sort of

understandable reference to help me get a grok on just how much is a half a gram

of fat

– trans or otherwise. So I got out my trusty Lyman electronic scale, which

measures in those esoteric gram units, and I measured some stuff. Like coconut

oil, which is a saturated fat, and similar in some ways to those trans fats in

that it is fairly solid at room temperature. It turns out that when coconut

oil is fully warm and liquid, a half a gram of it is just less than a quarter

teaspoon full. When it is cold and hard or solid, like margarine, it is about

half that volume – it “packs together†into about one-eighth of a

teaspoon. Put

another way, a 0.5 gram bit of solid fat, which is pretty much what trans fat

is, is a chunk about the size of my thumbnail – and I have big, “guy-sizeâ€

fingers.

 

So, the bottom line here is that the FDA says that as long as someone doesn’t

put more than about an eighth of a teaspoonful of trans fats into a single

serving of a food then they get to make that coveted “Zero Grams of Trans

Fat!â€

claim. Wow! Seems to me there might be a little bit of “slack†in all this

for the food manufacturers… Think about it: you’re a food manufacturer of,

say

potato chips – nice, greasy, salty potato chips. You sell them by the “

family size†bag, though you know that one of those bags is about what the

average

American junk-food junkie will eat in a single sitting. Your analysis comes

back with the results that there is a gram of trans fat in, say, thirty of your

chips. Hmmm… Not looking good… But wait! Here’s an idea: let’s call the

“

serving size†15 chips. No, make it 12 chips, just to be safe. Now you get to

put

a big, exciting notice on your bag of greasy chips: “0 Grams Trans-Fats!â€

and crow about how healthy they are! And it’s all FDA approved!

 

Folks, maybe it’s time we held our food industry and our FDA – and yes, it

is our FDA – to a little bit higher standard. Zero means zero. No means no.

None means none. It doesn’t mean “just a little bitâ€, or “maybe just a

smidgeâ€

or “well, not really enough to be bad for you, we think.â€

 

I recall a 2002 report from a National Academy of Sciences panel that sought

to set a safe intake level for trans-fatty acids. That panel's conclusion was:

" The only safe intake of trans-fat is zero. "

 

Sounds pretty straight-forward to me – how ‘bout you?

 

-------

Major Food Sources of Trans Fat for American Adults

(Average Daily Trans Fat Intake is 5.8 Grams or 2.6 Percent of Calories)

 

40% cakes, cookies, crackers, pies, bread, etc.

21% animal products

17% margarine

8% fried potatoes

5% potato chips, corn chips, popcorn

4% household shortening

3% salad dressing

1% breakfast cereal

1% candy

 

Data based on FDA’s economic analysis for the final trans fatty acid labeling

rule, " Trans Fatty Acids in Nutrition Labeling, Nutrient Content Claims, and

Health Claims " (July 11, 2003)