I feel like I’m always telling people, “NO amount of trans fats are appropriate for anyone, especially children.” It’s usually in response to someone saying, “But the package says ‘Zero Grams Trans Fat Per Serving!” It’s time to stop being fooled by this ploy. Food labels can make this claim if their product contains less than .5 grams per serving–and no, .5 grams is not a small amount. Less than half a gram sounds like no big deal, I know. But all ingredients are different: 100 grams of sodium is considered a low sodium product. But 100 grams of sugar is a completely different story. So let me explain why even a fraction of a gram of trans fat is a bad idea…
Trans-fats Devastate Cholesterol Levels. Even small amounts of trans-fats cause your bad cholesterol (LDL) to shoot skyward and the good cholesterol (HDL) to plummet. Trans fats also cause inflammation… say hello to acne, joint pain, heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and worsened arthritis and fibromyalgia if you have them.
Your risk for heart disease goes up 23% for every 2% of calories you derive from trans fat each day. To put this in perspective, if you eat a 2,000 calorie diet, and have one medium serving of Burger King french fries, 2.5% of your calories are made up of trans fats. Do that every day, and your risk will increase by even more than that 23%. Please read this paragraph again and allow it to really sink in.
If you see the words “Zero grams trans fat per serving” on the front of the bag, be immediately suspicious. “Per serving” is the operative here. Those sneaky food marketers can legally say this on the front of the package as long as each serving contains less than half a gram. They’re rounding down for you, for convenience. How sweet of them! If you see these words, immediately flip to the back and I can almost guarantee you will see the word “hydrogenated” or the word “shortening” in the ingredient list. These words are the real way to tell if the product contains trans fats.
Now, if you see the words “NO trans fat,” that’s different. At least by adding “per serving” they’re not technically lying, because they adjusted down their serving size until the trans fats reached .49 or less, resulting in a snack-sized bag of crackers now being 2 servings instead of 1. (Another convenient rounding down for our convenience, I presume.) When I see the words, “No trans fat,” without “per serving” on the end, I’m not immediately suspicious. But I still check the ingredient list.
Look beyond the french fries…Here are some surprising products that contain trans fats:
This is by no means a complete list
- Many breakfast cereals (including Fruity Pebbles, Basic 4, Froot Loops and Corn Pops)
- Many brands of Animal Crackers
- Fig Newtons
- Ritz Crackers
- Almost all “healthy” granola bars including Quaker Oats Chewy Granola Bars and Nutri-Grain Bars
- Saltine crackers and most brands of Graham Crackers
- Special K’s entire line of weight loss products
- Girl Scout Cookie (sorry, girls!)
- Almost all microwave popcorn
- Many kids fruit snacks and chewy candies including Laffy Taffy
The 2 Most Important Takeaways
- No amount of trans fats is healthy or appropriate at any age.
- Because food marketers can stretch the truth like a taffy machine, make sure the only information you rely on in determining whether a product contains trans fats is the ingredient list. If you see the words “shortning,” “hydrogenated,” or “partially hydrogenated,” you can put it back on the shelf and walk away knowing you just did your family a favor.
I would love to hear your thoughts on this subject. Have you been fooled in the past? Let me hear it!
Thanks for putting these terms straight in everyone’s mind. It’s easy to forget to check the food labels when we’re in a hurry and see that “No trans-fats per serving” on the label.
Excellent article! So here’s my question-what are some “good” foods that do not contain trans fat? Would love some advice. Thanks!
Jennifer, thanks for asking! I’m writing and article about that on Monday!
So what are some good fats… I know that when you start to go “healthy” you start to look for healthier cooking oils. I’ve recently moved toward Organic Extra Virgin Coconut Oil – good or bad choice? I keep reading all the pros and cons and it’s still getting a bad rap. I like it because I can buy one oil and do everything with it and I mean everything LOL! No I did not mean THAT… but it does soften the skin and it makes a smoothie taste great! Your opinion? Thanks Mckenna for all your wonderful helpful advise!
Thanks for sharing! It is just what I was looking for! Have an amazing day, McKenna! 🙂
I gotta be better at this…great suggestions! I guess if anything stay away from the processed foods!
Bummer, just when you thought you were doing good…and wham! No more popcorn!!!Thanks for enlightening me! Great information!
Denny! Popcorn is one of my favorite treats. Okay, so movie popcorn and microwave popcorn are pretty horrid… but if you have an air popper, here is a recipe that I promise you will LOVE. To me, it tastes like kettle corn!
Air pop your popcorn
Rather than putting butter in the little melter cup that sits on top, fill it with pure, extra virgin coconut oil. Drizzle the melted coconut oil on top of the popped kernels, and sprinkle with sea salt.
Ohhh it’s so delicious! Plus you get great minerals from the sea salt, without increasing your cholesterol, and you get amazing nutrition and GOOD FAT from the coconut oil.
I had the same question as Jennifer, so I will be back on Monday! 🙂 Great information to keep us on track!
Educating yourself about nutrition is key to being successful in your eating habits.
Great information! I don’t purchase anything with trans fats!
thanks very much this helped so much with my food tech homework!