Health Alert 97
This month the FDA announced that food labels must list trans fats. Trans fats are a by product of food processing. They are in many “low fat” foods such as crackers, breads, and cereals. After years of preaching the benefits of these low fat foods, we now know that trans fats are worse for your heart than the natural fats they replaced.
The FDA’s latest intervention is good news for your health. Major players such as McDonald’s, Frito-Lay, and Kraft announced their plans to reduce or eliminate the use of trans fats in their products within the next year. Frito-Lay began listing trans fat on their labels since the beginning of 2003. I will tell you today haw to use this new info to improve your health.
You might be wondering if these fats cause heart disease why did food processors add them to your food in the first place?
* The Good, the Fat and the Ugly *
Vegetable fats are liquid but Americans were used to using solid lard and butter. Trans fats convert liquids like corn oil into solids like margarine. Most importantly to food producers, they increase the shelf-life of foods. They needed a Twinkie to be able to sit on a shelf for months without spoiling. This of course means an increase in profit margins.
If you were look at the list of ingredients on your favorite low-fat variety, you will see the words “hydrogenated” or “partially-hydrogenated” listed before the vegetable oil. These contain trans fats. Promoting low fat products is big business for food manufacturers. These profits may diminish with the requirement to list trans fats.
* What the FDA Still Isn’t Telling You *
Sadly, the danger of hydrogenated vegetable oil is not a recent discovery. As early as the
mid 1950s, studies have documented the dangers of these trans fats. At the turn of the century, coronary heart disease (CHD) was responsible for about 10% of American deaths. By 1950 CHD death rate among Americans rose to 30%. This sharp increase demanded attention from the medical community.
The dietary changes that took place over those fifty years were as follow1:
• Butter intake was down 8 pounds per person per year
• Margarine intake was up 6 pounds per person per year
• Vegetable oil intake was up more than 7 pounds per person per year
It was the margarine and vegetable oil intake that was responsible for the increase of CHD, not saturated fat. Unfortunately, those statistics did not receive the attention the “low-fat” approach did.
* Shop and Eat Trans-Free *
Food manufacturers have until January 2006 to comply with the new rule. In the meantime read labels for ingredients. You can deduce from the words “hydrogenated” or “partially hydrogenated” that trans fats are present. Also be aware that fried foods like French fries and chicken nuggets contain trans fats.
Buy whole natural foods like dairy, meat, fruit, and vegetables. You can also do as I do and avoid the inner aisles of the grocery store. This is where all the processed food is on display.
Al Sears, MD
1. M Enig, Trans Fatty Acids in the Food Supply: A Comprehensive Report Covering 60 Years of Research, 2nd Edition, 1995, Enig Associates, Inc., Silver Spring, MD, pp 4-8