Q: What are trans fats?
A: Their proper name is trans fatty acids. They’re the fats created when liquid oils are made into solid fats like shortening and hard margarine. The process of adding hydrogen to vegetable oils to harden them is known as hydrogenation, which increases the shelf life and flavor stability of foods.
Small amounts of trans fats are found naturally, primarily in some animal-based foods.
Q: What foods have trans fats?
A: Trans fats can be found in vegetable shortenings, some margarines, crackers, cookies, snack foods and other foods made with or fried in partially hydrogenated oils.
Q: Why are trans fats bad?
A: Trans fats pack a double whammy. They raise low-density lipoprotein, (LDL) or “bad cholesterol” and also lower high-density lipoprotein (HDL) or “good cholesterol,” increasing the risk of coronary heart disease, which can lead to heart attacks and strokes.
Q: What’s the difference between trans fats, saturated fats and cholesterol?
A: All three can raise bad cholesterol levels in the blood, but saturated fats and cholesterol don’t decrease good cholesterol levels the way trans fats do.
Saturated and trans fats can be found in some of the same foods, such as vegetable shortenings, some margarines (especially margarines that are harder), crackers, candies, cookies, snack foods, fried foods, baked goods and other processed foods made with partially hydrogenated vegetable oils.
High amounts of saturated fat are found in animal products, such as beef and pork, chicken skin, butter, whole milk and cheese.
Foods high in cholesterol include liver and other organ meats, egg yolks and dairy fats like cheese.
Q: What about food labels?
A: As of 2006, all packaged foods must show how much trans fat they contain, as well as saturated fat and cholesterol. To make the healthiest food selections, choose items with the lowest combined amount of saturated fat and trans fat and the lowest amount of cholesterol.
Source: The U.S. Food and Drug Administration Web site.
