With Trans Fat 0g Does Not Equal 0.0g
Posted by terrepruitt on May 12, 2009
Remember “0g trans fat per serving” does not equal ZERO trans fat per serving. I know, I know, but it is not me, that is the way it is. “0g trans fat per serving” could be 0.49g of transfat per serving. And if you eat a few servings of “’0g trans fat per serving’-could-be-0.49g-of trans-fat-per-serving’ you would be getting 1.47g of trans fat. FDA guidelines are such that if the item has less than 0.5g of trans fat per serving it can be listed as zero on the label.
If you want to get “0g trans fat per serving” you cannot trust the label that advertises such a thing you have to read the ingredients. You are looking for partially hydrogenated oil—any kind of oil that is partially hydrogenated oil. And if you really want to avoid trans fat you might want to skip hydrogentated oils. Although, hydrogenated oil is NOT transfat, the labeling is not strict so the ingredient could read hydrogenated and actually be partially.
There are quite a few websites that explain the chemical compounds of fat, so I am not going to do that here. I am just going to give a little overview. Fat has a certain chemical compound and a certain way the chains are formed. When a fat it partially hydrogenated the chemical bond is altered, more hydrogen atoms are added straightening the chain. Allowing for the chains to stack together more tightly and therefore remain solid. This altered state allows the fat to last longer which explains why it is in everything, it allows things to sit on the shelf longer, but rumor has it is sits in your body longer too. Not good.
This altered fat not only hangs around longer it has been proven to INCREASE (not just not help lower, but INCREASE) the “bad” cholesterol and decrease (not just leave alone, but DECREASE) our “good” cholesterol. We need to be eating healthy foods. To me, a food that DECREASES my good stuff and INCREASES my bad stuff, is not good.
So if you are interested in getting truly ZERO transfat, read the ingredients not just the hype on the labels.
Terre Pruitt's Blog 
michele said
I was just thinking about this last night as I was going through my cupboard looking at a box of macaroni and cheese crackers (don’t know why I bought them in the first place)the Nutrition facts say 0 trans fats – and I just thought to myself how could that be?!?! And then on to the ingredients – PATIALLY HYDROGENATED COTTENSEED OIL – and 1,000,000 other processed items. Thank you for you post, it is always good to keep this in the front of our minds rather than the back.
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terrepruitt said
I can imagine a few reasons why you bought Macaroni and cheese. Maybe because, despite the horrendous ingredients, it is good. I love to make a box and throw a chopped bell pepper in or broccoli. Still doesn’t take away the fact that the rest of it is processed gunk. And I really don’t have an excuse, you do, two of them. I am sure they love mac -n- cheese.
I think it is completely annoying that food makers can put “0g of Trans fat per serving” when that really isn’t true. And people trust that. They don’t always read ingredients. But, I find that if it says “0g of Trans fat per serving” it is almost like advertising that is does have it in there. Crazy, annoying.
Since it is almost impossible to avoid entirely, I would suggest avoiding it when you can. Rumor has it that Oreos no longer have it? But I bet they have HFCS.
Thanks for looking AND commenting! 🙂
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Veggie Burrito « Terre Pruitt's Blog said
[…] made with . . . . . guess? Yup, you got it partially hydrogenated oil. Even though the label says “Og TRANS FAT per serving” it stills has transfat (that’s the partially hydrogenated […]
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Canola Oil « Terre Pruitt's Blog said
[…] to be able to achieve moderation. Then there is the 0 trans fat per serving allowed verbiage which doesn’t really mean NO trans fat it just means that there is less than 1 gram per serving. So if you eat two servings then you could […]
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integratori alimentari said
This is a really good tip especially to those fresh to the blogosphere.
Brief but very precise information… Thank you for sharing this
one. A must read article!
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Maria said
Thanks for sharing this
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