[Update: see Ocean Spray's response in the comments below.]

More Cranberry news today.

Here’s a dilemma for you. Let’s say you are the CEO of a successful food company that sells products both to consumers and to other food processors. And let’s assume you are being squeezed by your big corporate clients to lower the price of your product. What do you do? Do you stand by the quality of your product and take a hit on the bottom line? Or do you get the food scientists to whip up a cheaper, inferior version?

This is the story of sweetened dried cranberries (SDC), manufactured by Ocean Spray. The consumer product, Craisins, contains dried cranberries, sugar (lots), and sometimes a bit of oil. That’s the package we buy at the supermarket. However, when we buy products with cranberry, such as Nature Valley Fruit Bars and Pepperidge Farm Chewy Granola Cookies, the cranberries inside are different. They come from a new product by Ocean Spray, called “Choice”.

What you need to know:

The “Choice” product has 50% less cranberry (the expensive ingredient) and more of other stuff: sugar, edelberry juice, citric acid. Some say, it barely has any cranberry left.

Here’s what The National Consumers League (NCL), a watchdog organization, wrote to the FDA:

…the cranberry content is so small that Ocean Spray must add color in the form of elderberry juice concentrate and acidity in the form of citric acid to simulate the color and acidity of cranberries. These findings are consistent with Ocean Spray’s own claims that it uses 50 percent fewer cranberries to make “Choice” than the regular product. Ocean Spray’s marketing materials tout “Choice” as a low-cost SDC with the same taste, texture, appearance, and health benefits as other SDCs.

NCL argues that such products should not be called cranberries, because they barely contain any of the original fruit. After sending the “Choice” product to a lab, they also ask that the ingredient label (on bulk packages, we assume) be corrected to state sugar as the first ingredient, not cranberries.

If you’re wondering why some products are full of all strange sounding names and chemicals, this story exemplifies one of the many reasons – manufacturer cost reduction.

Two other well known examples are the use of high fructose corn syrup instead of sugar in soft drinks (HFCS is half the price of table sugar) and the invention of margarine as a low cost alternative to butter (at the behest of France’s Napoleon two hundred years ago).

What to do at the supermarket:

Go for products with ingredient lists that have real, understandable names. Not always the healthiest (i.e too much butter), but at least you know what you are putting in your mouth.

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1. Annatto is a natural spice used as a food additive.

2. It is used both as a red food coloring and adds a sweet peppery taste.

3. Annatto comes from the pulp surrounding the seeds of the achiote tree of tropical Latin America.

4. It is found as a colorant in cheeses, butter, margarine, rice dishes, and prepared foods.

5. You can buy annatto seeds at ethnic markets and prepare a red dye by mixing the seeds in hot water.

6. Originally annatto was used as an insect repellant or body paint. Other uses over the centuries include sunscreen and treatment of heartburn.

8. It is also known as Achiote and E160b.

9. Although it is a natural food coloring, annatto has been associated with allergic reactions.

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Unilever, uber food conglomerate, will stop using trans fat in its margarine spreads as soon as next month, according to an article in USA Today. This is great news for consumers, because Unilever is the number one seller of margarine tubs and spreads. It’s top brands are I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter and Shedd’s Spread Country Crock.

“I call this the death knell for trans fats,” says Marion Nestle, professor of nutrition at New York University.

The elimination of trans fats from the U.S. diet “should be written up as a business school case and studied,” says Michael Jacobson, director of advocacy group Center for Science in the Public Interest, which has pushed for it. Trans fats have been reduced more than 70% in three years, he says.

read the entire article…

What you need to know:

Trans Fat is just plain EVIL. It has been unequivocally shown to increase the chances of heart disease because it raises the levels of LDL, the bad cholesterol, in our bloodstream. This leads to clogged arteries and other precursors of coronary ailments.

Trans fat is mostly man-made, and found in hydrogenated oils. These are vegetable oils that are “bombed” with hydrogen atoms in a process that makes them solid at room temperature.

The FDA has been requiring manufacturers to post product trans fat content on nutrition labels ever since 2006. Since then, lo and behold, trans fat is disappearing at a rapid pace.

Makes you wonder what would happen if the FDA would require labeling of ADDED SUGAR in products.

What to do at the supermarket:

You’re not 100% safe yet. There is still an irritating loophole though, whereby up to half a gram of trans fat can legally be labeled as 0. So in addition to checking the nutrition panel for 0 trans fat, look at the ingredient list to make sure there are no “partially hydrogenated vegetable oils“.

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An encouraging development in the world of food manufacturing. Food giant Cargill has shut a production line in  Wichita, Kansas that has been manufacturing hydrogenated oils:

President of Cargill’s dressings, sauces and oils division Mike Venker said in a statement: “The demand for hydrogenated oils has decreased significantly as a result of trans fat reduction in foods, therefore leaving the plant underutilized. We made every effort to keep the production at the plant, but ultimately could not achieve acceptable production efficiencies.” [See Progressive Grocer]

And thank goodness for that. Despite the loss of jobs.

What you need to know:

Trans Fat is just plain EVIL.

It has been unequivocally shown to increase the chances of heart disease because it raises the levels of LDL, the bad cholesterol, in our bloodstream. This leads to clogged arteries and other precursors of coronary ailments.

Trans fat is mostly man-made, and found in hydrogenated oils. These are vegetable oils that are “bombed” with hydrogen atoms in a process that makes them solid at room temperature (think margarine).

Since 2006, the FDA has mandated that the amount of trans fat in foods be labeled on product packages. In addition, several states and municipalities have banned the use of trans fat in restaurants.

Trans fat in the form of partially hydrogenated oil is most common in baked and fried foods, in which it can count for up to 45 percent of total fat content. It is cheaper to produce than healthier oils like canola or olive oil, provides food manufacturers with greater processing stability and gives foods a longer shelf life. Therefore, commercially produced shortenings in the US have traditionally contained high levels of hydrogenated fats.

But guess what, pressure from the FDA and local lawmakers had a positive effect. The food industry figured out a way to make the same foods without trans fat. In fact, over the last 5 years, demand for trans fat laden hydrogenated oils has declined by  75% percent in the US.

By the way, Cargill is one of the largest private companies in the US, dealing mostly in agricultural products such as grains, livestock, and eggs. If it were public, it would be in the top 10 companies of the Fortune 100 list. It has 160,000 employees worldwide and sold 120 BILLION dollars worth globally last year.

What to do at the supermarket:

We’re not safe yet. There are still plenty of foods out there with trans fat. Always check the nutrition panel for 0 trans fat, as well as the ingredient list to make sure there are no “partially hydrogenated vegetable oils“.

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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.

Read more…

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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Here are ten facts about trans-fat, the Darth Vader of  processed foods:

1. 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.

2. Hydrogenation is the process of bombarding an oil’s fat molecules with hydrogen atoms, making it more dense and raising its melting point, so that the oil becomes solid at room temperature.  An unfortunate side effect of this the creation of trans fatty acids. Partially hydrogenated oil means that the hydrogenation process stopped short of a full solid, reaching a more creamy, semi-soft, butterlike consistency. This is the story of margarine.

3. Cis and trans are terms that refer to the arrangement of chains of carbon atoms in a fat molecule. hydrogenation turns cis  into trans.

4. Some margarine brands use fractionated oils instead of partially hydrogenated oils in order to eliminate trans-fat. The fractionation process involves heating then cooling a liquid oil, thus separating it to fractions that have different melting points. Unfortunately, this process raises the level of saturated fat in the oil.

5. Trans fat labeling on food packages has been mandatory since 2006.

6. Loophole alert: 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.

7. Trans-fat is an artificial creation, but there are some trace amounts of trans-fat found naturally in meat and dairy products, called vaccenic acid.

8. consumption of food containing trans-fat has unequivocally been shown to increase the risk of heart disease by raising levels of LDL (bad cholesterol), and lowering levels of HDL (good cholesterol).

9. In 2003, Denmark effectively banned trans-fat from foods, charting a course for an 80% reduction of trans-fat in all foods.

10. in 2008, California became the first state to ban restaurant chains from using  trans-fats for cooking or frying.

What to do at the supermarket:

Don’t trust the nutrition label stating zero trans-fat per serving. Take a look at the ingredient list to spot partially hydrogenated vegetable oils.

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An interesting read in the Los Angeles Times tries to help consumers make an informed nutritional decision when baking cookies:

Butter and margarine have a similar overall fat content — and therefore a lot of calories, says Katherine Zeratsky, a registered dietitian with the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. But the composition of the fats in butter and margarine differs significantly.

“You have to pick the lesser of two evils,” Zeratsky says. “In butter, it’s the saturated fat content, and in margarine, it’s trans fat.”

Read the full article…

What you need to know:

Margarine is a relatively recent invention (less than 200 years) and is considered the cheaper cousin to butter. Some groups can’t use butter at all. Vegans need to make do with oils and margarine. Jews observant of kosher dietary laws prepare many non-milk (parve) dishes to accompany or follow meat meals. But for most of us, the dilemma is real.

From a caloric standpoint, butter and margarine are equal. Several decades ago, margarine got a big boost from the medical community because it was deemed healthier than butter – no cholesterol, and much less saturated fat. However, the discovery of trans fat and its far more sinister effect on people’s health has put the two products back on equal footing.

Neither are good in large amounts, and if you need to choose, products made with butter usually taste better. When working with a recipe, many times canola oil can be used  together with the butter, replacing up to 50% of the butter without changing the flavor or texture.

What to do at the supermarket:

If you do choose margarine, go for the soft tub kind, which has not undergone massive hydrogenation, and therefore contains very low amounts of transfat. A zero transfat claim may be misleading, because manufacturers can claim zero as long as there is less than 0.5 gram of transfat per serving. But a serving may be just a tablespoon, whereas a recipe calls for an entire cup full of butter or margarine.

Whatever you choose to cook with, remember that portion control and limiting caloric intake is a sure way to stay healthier.

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Image by colros via Flickr

We posted earlier today with some bread buying advice; now it’s time for the spread. Dr. Kristie Leong over at HealthMad published 2 great posts today:

1. Butter vs. Margarine – Margarine can be a source for trans fats, but on the other hand butter is usually higher in saturated fat. However, butter has additional nutritional value that margarines don’t.

2. Five Healthy Butter Substitutes, including whipped butter, tub margarine, Butter Buds, roasted garlics, hummus, olive oil dip.

What you need to know:

Margarine was invented in France in the late 18th century as a cheap alternative to butter for Napoleon’s army. Margarine is usually a mixture of soy oil and various food additives. Hydrogenation causes the oil to solidify, creating margarine. Created as a bonus side effect is the evil trans-fat that can cause heart disease even faster than the saturate fat in butter. Both margarine and butter are fat, a single serving of 14 grams (one tablespoon) packs 100 calories.

What to do at the supermarket:

As usual, look at the ingredient list and the nutrition data. Choose the product with no trans fat and low saturated fat. If you are looking for a spread, consider alternatives such as hummus, tahini, and other veggie pastes. If you do end up with butter or margarine on your whole wheat bread, just spread really thin…