Healthify your supermarket choices.
40% of Oil Consumed by Americans Contains Trans-fat
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Americans consume 31 BILLION lbs. of oil a year.
That’s about 100 lbs. per man woman and child, or half a cup of oil every day.
And almost half of the oil we consume is hydrogenated to degree, meaning it contains trans-fat.
But there is hope, according to a recent article in USA Today:
What may be the next big thing in the quest for the perfect low-fat french fry will sprout from Iowa ground this summer.
Pioneer Hi-Bred says its genetically engineered soybean will make an oil that has no artery-clogging trans fats. The high-oleic oil is supposed to last three to five times longer in commercial fryers than most zero-trans-fat oils.
The Johnson, Iowa-based company, the second-largest producer of hybrid seeds for agriculture, will put the soybean through tests to determine whether those claims are true. If so, then McDonald’s, Frito-Lay and other companies may snap up the oil and promote heart-healthy fried foods and chips.
What you need to know:
There is a lot of controversy around genetically modified foods, which we won’t get into in this post. Creating an oil that won’t become trans-fat when hydrogenated sounds interesting, but it will probably take years to prove it is safe and does the job. In the meantime, a few things to know:
Trans fat is found in shortenings, margarine, snacks such as crackers, candies, and cookies, fried foods, pastries and other foods prepared with partially hydrogenated vegetable oils
Trans fat labeling on food packages has been mandatory since 2006. But, if a serving has less than o.5 grams of trans-fat, the label may state ZERO. Yes, that includes 0.49 grams in a serving size even a 2 year old would find ridiculously too small. This is a loophole being exploited by some food manufacturers.
What to do at the supermarket:
Try to reduce to zero your trans-fat consumption by examining food labels carefully. If the nutrition panel says 0 trans-fat, it’s a good start, but always take a look at the ingredient list to spot partially hydrogenated oils.
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Wow. That’s a sobering number!
Curious what you think about oils resulting from processing monoculture crops, primarily soybean, which accounts for 75% of oils used in highly processed foods.
Can we avoid trans fats by reverting back to natural occurring fats, including lard?
Thought provoking questions indeed.
1. From a sustainability perspective, monocultures are problematic. Soy is no exception. But the factorization of soy production is what gives us very cheap vegetable oil. Check these 2 resources for more information:
http://www.ers.usda.gov/Briefing/SoyBeansOilCrops/background.htm
http://www.pig8soy.org/node/59
2. The best way to avoid trans fat is to eat as little processed food as possible. But remember, trans-fat free is not necessarily healthy. Lard may be trans-fat free, but is still made up of 40% saturated fat (margarine -14%, butter – 50%, olive oil – 14%). Many pigs, incidentally, are raised on soy mush (protein rich), from the same soybeans used to extract oil.