California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a bill that prohibits restaurants from using trans fat in any form of fat including oil, margarine and shortening. Under the new law, the use of trans fat in all California restaurants will be phased out by Jan 1, 2010 in all foods except for baked foods which will be free of trans fat by Jan 1, 2011. Violations of this law lead to fines ranging from $25 to $1,000.
New York City adopted a similar ban in 2006.
Foods that may contain trans fat
What's the big deal? You may ask, why have to ban trans fat?
Well, you may have this concept in your mind, that saturated fat is the culprit of many cardiovascular diseases. The saturated fat increases low-density lipoprotein (LDL) level in the body and may clog your blood vessels and so on. So you are trying your very best to avoid animal source fat (except fish, of course, the omega-3, remember?) as they are the main source of saturated fat.
You even change your butter to margarine, cause you think, they are plant-based, and it's safer. Aha! You are wrong! The margarine actually contains trans fat!
So what is trans fat?
It is actually partial hydrogenation of plant oils.
The goal of partial hydrogenation is to add hydrogen atoms to cis-unsaturated fats, making them more saturated. These saturated fats have a higher melting point, longer shelf-life and desirable palatability including texture and mouth feel (food industry loves them!)
However, the catalyst also catalyses a side reaction that isomerizes some of the
cis -unsaturated fats into
trans -unsaturated fats instead of hydrogenating them completely.
Trans fats are non-essential for your body!
It is believed that the human lipase enzyme is ineffective with the trans fat, so trans fat remains in the blood stream for a much longer period of time and is more prone to arterial deposition and subsequent plaque formation. (Human lipase enzyme is specific to the
cis configuration type of fat)
So, trans fat is worse than saturated fat.
It can raise not only LDL, the bad cholesterol, but also kick out the high density lipoprotein (HDL) , the good cholesterol (Saturated fat only raises bad cholesterol).
Many randomized and controlled dietary trials have already found that consumption of trans-fat can more than raise bad cholesterol. It can promote inflammation that is implicated in many chronic diseases such as cardiovascular diseases, diabetes mellitus and other chronic diseases such as infertility. Recent studies have shown trans fat may also hurt learning ability and memory.
There is no safety threshold for trans fat. Intake of trans fat in any amount may have an adverse effect. Consumers completely avoid intake of trans fat or avoid as much as they can.
OK. Now you want to avoid trans fat, but how?
Note that trans fats are not only 'available' in restaurants (especially fast food restaurants) and bakeries. They are available in processed foods in the shelves of supermarkets (or hypermarkets or whatever you call it) as well.
So, besides trying to eat less at these fast food restaurants and bakeries, you need to learn how to read the food labels also.
Processed foods that contain trans fat including margarines, crackers cookies, snack foods, and other foods made with or fried in partially hydrogenated oils.
Consumers should seek foods that contain 0 g trans fat. However, when a label shows 0 grams trans fat per serving it may contain up to 0.49 grams of trans fat per serving.
0.49 grams of trans fat doesn't seem like a lot, but when you eat more than one serving, this hidden amount can become a problem.
The manufacturers may not list trans fat, but try to add up all types of fat including saturated fat, monounsaturated fat and polyunsaturated fat to see if the total matches the total (serving) size. If both are different, then there is likely some trans fat.
And if any of the ingredients are either hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated, trans fat is there (the manufacturers know how to play trick!).
So, we can't really believe what the manufacturers claim in their products. Zero trans fat as they mention in the product is not really zero. The product label you see on the front of the food is just an advertisement. They are trying to get the consumer to buy it over the competition.
The only way to truly know what the food contains is by reading the nutrition label.
You are responsible for what you put into your body and the more education you have, the better prepared you will be to make those decisions.
New York City adopted a similar ban in 2006.
What's the big deal? You may ask, why have to ban trans fat?
Well, you may have this concept in your mind, that saturated fat is the culprit of many cardiovascular diseases. The saturated fat increases low-density lipoprotein (LDL) level in the body and may clog your blood vessels and so on. So you are trying your very best to avoid animal source fat (except fish, of course, the omega-3, remember?) as they are the main source of saturated fat.
You even change your butter to margarine, cause you think, they are plant-based, and it's safer. Aha! You are wrong! The margarine actually contains trans fat!
So what is trans fat?
It is actually partial hydrogenation of plant oils.
The goal of partial hydrogenation is to add hydrogen atoms to cis-unsaturated fats, making them more saturated. These saturated fats have a higher melting point, longer shelf-life and desirable palatability including texture and mouth feel (food industry loves them!)
However, the catalyst also catalyses a side reaction that isomerizes some of the cis -unsaturated fats into trans -unsaturated fats instead of hydrogenating them completely.
Trans fats are non-essential for your body!
It is believed that the human lipase enzyme is ineffective with the trans fat, so trans fat remains in the blood stream for a much longer period of time and is more prone to arterial deposition and subsequent plaque formation. (Human lipase enzyme is specific to the cis configuration type of fat)
So, trans fat is worse than saturated fat.
It can raise not only LDL, the bad cholesterol, but also kick out the high density lipoprotein (HDL) , the good cholesterol (Saturated fat only raises bad cholesterol).
Many randomized and controlled dietary trials have already found that consumption of trans-fat can more than raise bad cholesterol. It can promote inflammation that is implicated in many chronic diseases such as cardiovascular diseases, diabetes mellitus and other chronic diseases such as infertility. Recent studies have shown trans fat may also hurt learning ability and memory.
There is no safety threshold for trans fat. Intake of trans fat in any amount may have an adverse effect. Consumers completely avoid intake of trans fat or avoid as much as they can.
OK. Now you want to avoid trans fat, but how?
Note that trans fats are not only 'available' in restaurants (especially fast food restaurants) and bakeries. They are available in processed foods in the shelves of supermarkets (or hypermarkets or whatever you call it) as well.
So, besides trying to eat less at these fast food restaurants and bakeries, you need to learn how to read the food labels also.
Processed foods that contain trans fat including margarines, crackers cookies, snack foods, and other foods made with or fried in partially hydrogenated oils.
Consumers should seek foods that contain 0 g trans fat. However, when a label shows 0 grams trans fat per serving it may contain up to 0.49 grams of trans fat per serving.
0.49 grams of trans fat doesn't seem like a lot, but when you eat more than one serving, this hidden amount can become a problem.
The manufacturers may not list trans fat, but try to add up all types of fat including saturated fat, monounsaturated fat and polyunsaturated fat to see if the total matches the total (serving) size. If both are different, then there is likely some trans fat.
And if any of the ingredients are either hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated, trans fat is there (the manufacturers know how to play trick!).
So, we can't really believe what the manufacturers claim in their products. Zero trans fat as they mention in the product is not really zero. The product label you see on the front of the food is just an advertisement. They are trying to get the consumer to buy it over the competition.
The only way to truly know what the food contains is by reading the nutrition label.
You are responsible for what you put into your body and the more education you have, the better prepared you will be to make those decisions.