The Zero Grams Trans Fats Myth
Are we being fooled into thinking that we are eating a safe product?
Countless companies, restaurants and brands are making the statement "zero grams trans fats". What does this mean? Does it really mean there is no trans fats?
What are trans fats?
Simply put, trans fats are made when hydrogen is added to liquid oils. Adding hydrogen makes it possible for the liquid oil to stay solid a rood temperature. It also makes the oil more stable, able to tolerate higher heat, and lengthens shelf life of the oil and the products they are in.
What is wrong with trans fats?
Trans fats have been shown to increase bad cholesterol and lower good cholesterol in the body. While saturated fats are also known to affect cholesterol adversely as well, experts believe saturated fats are not as bad trans fats. There is also a significant link between consumption of trans fats and diabetes.
It is recommended that consumption of trans fats should be extremely limited. As a matter of fact, there is no established safe upper or lower limit of the consumption of trans fats.
When zero doesn't mean none.
Trans fats are cheap. Food companies like to use them because they aid in making an inexpensive, shelf stable product. They do not want to stop using them entirely. So, unfortunately food companies have found a loop hole and are using deceptive advertising when it comes to trans fats.
The truth is when a product package or restaurant makes the claim “zero grams fats”, it really means that there is most likely some trans fats in the product, it is just less than one gram per serving. One of the catches is in the words “per serving”. What constitutes a serving? Also, when food companies use this claim, we have no way of knowing if it is .9 grams or .1 grams of trans fats per serving.
Tip: Look for the words “partially hydrogenated oil” in the ingredients list. If those words are there, the product contains trans fats.
Chips, dips, fried prepared foods, margarine, shortening and fast food restaurants are all making the claim of “zero grams trans fats”. Check out the examples below.
Wendy's claims to use an oil that contains zero grams trans fats. If you visit the Wendy's website nutritional section, it shows zero grams of trans fats in the charts. Scroll down to the ingredients and notice that in many of the deep fried foods do contain partially hydrogenated oil.
KFC also claims zero grams trans fats per serving in their commercials. If you read the ingredients list, you will see trans fats are still present.
Tip: Look for packages that say “no trans fats” or “trans fat free”. These foods will not contain trans fats.
While lowering trans fats in these foods is a good step forward, it is a step backwards in deceptive advertising.
