What ingredients are considered trans fats?

Question

I know if it says anything about hydrogenated, it is bad. I also know that in the Trans Fats section of the label it can say zero when it's not really. But, I swear I once saw 1 g of trans fats listed, but no hydrogenated ingredients. Is there other terminology used for trans fats?

Answer 1

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)



Basically, trans fat is made when manufacturers add hydrogen to vegetable oil--a process called hydrogenation. Hydrogenation increases the shelf life and flavor stability of foods containing these fats.



Trans fat can be found in vegetable shortenings, some margarines, crackers, cookies, snack foods, and other foods made with or fried in partially hydrogenated oils. Unlike other fats, the majority of trans fat is formed when food manufacturers turn liquid oils into solid fats like shortening and hard margarine. A small amount of trans fat is found naturally, primarily in some animal-based foods.



Trans fat, like saturated fat and dietary cholesterol, raises the LDL cholesterol that increases your risk for CHD. Americans consume on average 4 to 5 times as much saturated fat as trans fat in their diets.



Although saturated fat is the main dietary culprit that raises LDL, trans fat and dietary cholesterol also contribute significantly.



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)





Scientific evidence shows that consumption of saturated fat, trans fat, and dietary cholesterol raises low-density lipoprotein (LDL), or "bad cholesterol," levels, which increases the risk of coronary heart disease (CHD). According to the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health, more than 12.5 million Americans have CHD, and more than 500,000 die each year. That makes CHD one of the leading causes of death in the United States.



The Food and Drug Administration has required that saturated fat and dietary cholesterol be listed on food labels since 1993. Starting Jan.1, 2006, listing of trans fat will be required as well. With trans fat added to the Nutrition Facts panel, required by Jan. 1, 2006, you will know for the first time how much of all three--saturated fat, trans fat, and cholesterol--are in the foods you choose. Identifying saturated fat, trans fat, and cholesterol on the food label gives you information you need to make food choices that help reduce the risk of CHD. This revised label will be of particular interest to people concerned about high blood cholesterol and heart disease.



However, everyone should be aware of the risk posed by consuming too much saturated fat, trans fat, and cholesterol. But what is trans fat, and how can you limit the amount of this fat in your diet?

Answer 2

Trans fats are NOT saturated fats -- they are their own special group of fats. Any time you see the words "partially hydrogenated ___ oil" or "fully hydrogenated __ oil" in the list of ingredients, that food contains trans fat. If you ever saw a label that showed 1g of trans fat but no partially or fully hydrogenated oils, there was an error on the label -- either the trans fats should have been 0g or there should have been a listing for partially or fully hydrogenated oil, and I'm guessing that the 1g of trans fat was incorrect since the FDA is very picky about listing ALL ingredients in processed food.

Answer 3

Like the one that just said all the animal fats are trans fats, but also margarines Ttry to keep with olive oil or canola oil, don't use or eat any animal fats and not a lot of sea food,

Answer 4

Most animal {meat} products naturally contain at least a minimum of trans fats.

Answer 5

Trans fatty acids, also known as trans fat, is an artery-clogging fat that is formed when vegetable oils are hardened into margarine or shortening. It is found in many other foods besides margarine and shortening, however, including fried foods like french fries and fried chicken, doughnuts, cookies, pastries and crackers. In the United States, typical french fries have about 40 percent trans fatty acids and many popular cookies and crackers range from 30 percent to 50 percent trans fatty acids. Doughnuts have about 35 percent to 40 percent trans fatty acids.



Trans fat is known to increase blood levels of low density lipoprotein (LDL), or "bad" cholesterol, while lowering levels of high density lipoprotein (HDL), known as "good" cholesterol. It can also cause major clogging of arteries, type 2 diabetes and other serious health problems, and was found to increase the risk of heart disease. Many food companies use trans fat instead of oil because it reduces cost, extends storage life of products and can improve flavor and texture.



One problem with the use of trans fat is that food companies were not required to list it on nutrition labels so consumers had no way of knowing how much trans fat was in the food they were eating. Further, there is no upper safety limit recommended for the daily intake of trans fat. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has only said that "intake of trans fats should be as low as possible."



In a step in the right direction, the FDA has announced a final rule requiring food manufacturers to list trans fat on Nutrition Facts labels. The bad news is that the labels are not required until 2006 so consumers will need to fend for themselves when making food choices until that time.



While some foods like bakery items and fried foods are obvious sources of trans fat, other processed foods, such as cereals and waffles, can also contain trans fat. One tip to determine the amount of trans fat in a food is to read the ingredient label and look for shortening, hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oil. The higher up on the list these ingredients appear, the more trans fat.



You can also add up the amount of fat in a product (saturated, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated), provided the amounts are listed, and compare the total with the total fat on the label. If they don’t match up, the difference is likely trans fat, especially if partially hydrogenated oil is listed as one of the first ingredients.



A few companies, like Frito Lay, Lipton, and Nestle have already taken steps to eliminate trans fat in some products. Nestle is removing it from Rolo and Toffee Crisp and possibly other products. Their competitor, Cadbury, is also considering removing trans fats from some of its products.



Recently a lawsuit was filed against Nabisco, the Kraft Foods unit that makes Oreo cookies, seeking a ban on the sale of Oreo cookies because they contain trans fat, making them dangerous to eat. The case was later withdrawn because the lawyer who filed the suit said the publicity surrounding the case accomplished what he set out to do: create awareness about the dangers of trans fat. Kraft is also among the companies making efforts to reduce trans fatty acid in their products.

Answer 6

All fruits are fruit and vegetables. A "vegetable" is a plant, any part of which can be used for food.

Answer 7

In the superstore, fruits are usually chosen far too soon. Some are rocks, many are wrong. Some of the fresh vegetables are generally right (zucchini, onions, garlic, lettuce, greens, and a few others) so I'd have to go with vegetables.

Answer 8

Saturated fat from Meat and all dairy products.

Answer 9

Prevention magazine just had a great article just about this topic. You can goto www.prevention.com it should be still there just looked at it yesterday.



I hope this helps!



Alice

Answer 10

what is trans fat