The Philippine Online Chronicles

The modern era is all about modernization and technological advancement. In today’s fast paced life people prefer things that are easy and fast . A lot of people prefer short cuts and things that can be acquired in an instant.

Time is precious especially for hard working individuals.  As a result, many people do not have t or sometimes do not have the energy to prepare proper meals. Processed food items became popular because it made life simple and easy.

Processed foods are fast and convenient alternatives to healthy meals but it comes with a consequence. Now it leads me to this question… Have you ever wondered why many people in this day and age are so prone to diabetes, heart attacks and other serious ailments?

Trans fat is pointed as one of the leading culprits behind the current increasing health issues around the world.

What exactly is trans fat?

Trans fat is a common term for “unsaturated fat with trans-isomer (E-isomer) fatty acid”. It is used to enhance the flavor, texture and shelf life of various processed foods. However, consumption of trans fat poses a great health risk.  In fact, trans fat increases the risk of coronary heart disease because it boosts "bad" cholesterol and reduces levels of "good" cholesterol.

Many of the foods that we love to eat are laced with trans fat.  It’s about time you look deeper into your food. The easiest way to find out if your food has trans fat is to check the nutritional label.

Food alert: food items containing trans fat

1. Spreads – These are fat-based foods that are used in cooking and adding extra flavor to dishes.

• Shortening – It has the greatest amount of trans fat among spreads. In fact, 1 tablespoon of butter contains 4.2 grams trans fat and 3.4 grams saturated fat.
• Tub margarine – It has considerably less trans fat compared to stick margarine. 1 tablespoon of stick margarine contains 0.6 grams trans fat and 1.2 grams saturated fat. The difference between stick margarine and tub margarine is the amount of hydrogenation used.  Hydrogenation is utilized to increase the flavor stability and shelf life of margarine.
• Stick margarine – It comes in a hard solid stick shape which requires more hydrogenation. 1 tablespoon of stick margarine contains 2.8 grams trans fat and 7.2 grams saturated fat.
• Soft tub margarine – Among the types of margarine, soft tub margarine has the least trans fat. 1 tablespoon of stick margarine contains 0-0.5 grams trans fat and 1 grams saturated fat.
• Butter – It has the least amount of trans fat among the spreads. 1 tablespoon of butter has 0.3 grams trans fat and 7.2 grams saturated fat.

2. Fast Food – Many fast food items like French fries, fried chicken, pies and pancakes contain trans fat. A medium sized pack of French fries may contain 14.5 gram trans fat while a choice cut of regular fried chicken may have 7 grams trans fat.

Due to worldwide health concerns, some big fast food chains have stopped cooking fries and chicken in fat hydrogenated oils.

3. Baked Goods – Don’t be surprised if the favorite cookies, pastries, cupcakes and cakes you buy at bakeries, supermarkets and stores are jam-packed with trans fat. These fats help baked goods have an extended shelf life without affecting its taste and flavors.

Some baked goods like cupcakes and cakes may have more trans fat because of shortening-based frosting.  Donuts are also high in trans fat especially the shortening-based cream-filled donuts. One regular donut (no cream filling) may contain 5 grams of trans fat. Just imagine how much trans fat a cream-filled one has. One slice of pound cake may contain 4.3 grams of transfat while one cream-filled cookie may have 1.9 grams of trans fat.

4. Frozen Foods – These frozen food items usually contain some amount of trans fat such as frozen pizzas, waffles, pies and breaded fish sticks. Fruit pies contain large amount of trans fat. As a matter of fact, a slice of deep-dish apple pie has approximately 4 grams trans fat.

5. Microwave Popcorn – Our favorite movie snack contains 5 - 7 grams trans fat per half bag.

6. Others – There are other types of food available to consumers that contain trans fat. Examples are crackers, breakfast cereals, potato chips, soup cups, cake mix, etc.

Real meaning of zero trans fat

Some people have been misled by product labels.  Some products may claim that it has 0 trans fat but in reality it contains some trans fats. According to an article in mb.com.ph, the current Food and Drug Administration (FDA) policy allows food items that have less than 0.5 grams of trans fat to be reflected as zero grams of trans fat on the label. In other words, if a certain food product has 0.49 grams trans fat, the manufacturers have the liberty to label it zero trans fat. This labeling policy can be a reason why many people unknowingly eat significant portions of potentially harmful trans fats.

The policy also allows manufacturers to label products with trans fat less than 5 grams in 0.5 gram increments. The product makers have the option to round down trans fat content to the lower increment. While food items that have more than 5 grams trans fat are required to reflect 1 gram increments.

May this serve as a wake-up call for some consumers who are not aware of this FDA policy.

Health risks

There have been alarming reports linking consumption of foods with significant amounts of trans fat to increased risk of coronary artery disease, diabetes and even sudden cardiac death. According to mb.com.ph,  research shows that consuming daily trans fat consumption from 2 grams to 4.67 grams could increase an individual risk of cardiovascular disease by 30 percent.

Read product labels

It’s about time to start the habit of reading nutrition labels/nutrition facts. Check the types of fats listed on the label. Take note that hydrogenated fat is another term for trans fat.  Keep in mind that zero trans fat may actually mean less than 0.5 grams trans fat.  Also watch out for the words partially hydrogenated because it also translates to trans fat.

You must have noticed that most labels mention “single serving” in relation to nutrition facts.  According to WebMD the “single serving” specified on labels is often less than what an average person would consume.

When choosing food products that says zero grams trans fat, it is helpful if you evaluate its total fat content including saturated fat.  As the saying goes, choose the lesser evil. If you cannot totally avoid such foods, then it is best to choose the ones that have the least amount of saturated fat.

Photo by Rachel Yapchiongco. Some Rights Reserved.

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Rachel Yapchiongco, also known as Rach to her friends, is a Psychology and Marketing Management graduate of De La Salle University.  She took up several units of MBA at the same university.  Rachel is a full-time mom to a charming young boy and married to an entrepreneur with a passion for cooking. She shares parenting experiences and slices of everyday life on her personal blog called Heart of Rachel.