Trans Fatty Acids

Who, What, Where?

• Trans fatty acids (a.k.a. trans or trans fats, are found in large amounts in foods containing hydrogenated vegetable oils.
• Trans fatty acids also occur naturally (in small amounts) in meat and dairy products. They’ve been part of the human diet for as long as people have been eating meat and dairy.
• The level of trans fats in meat and dairy is small, compared to the amount found in foods containing hydrogenated vegetable oils.

Why Hydrogenate?

• When oils are hydrogenated, they are converted from their liquid state to a hardened form.
• This artificial hardening of liquid oils offers a lot of advantages to food manufacturers. It stabilizes the oil, extends its shelf-life and allows for higher cooking temperatures.

The Controversy

Hydrogenation causes a chemical shift in polyunsaturated fatty acids, changing their behaviour. Instead of acting like normal unsaturated fats, trans fatty acids act much like saturated fats in our bodies raising total blood cholesterol levels and increasing the risk of heart disease.

Fat Sense

• Both saturated fats and trans fats have been shown to raise blood cholesterol levels and increase the risk of heart disease. Many experts believe that it’s more important to reduce the consumption of saturated fats than trans fats.
• Health Canada says we shouldn’t eat any more trans fats than we already do… but they haven’t asked us to reduce those levels, either.

Hiding Places

• Any foods that list partially hydrogenated oils on the ingredient list contain trans fats. Check labels.
• Processed foods are more likely to contain trans fats than whole, natural foods.
• Commercially prepared baked goods, often contain trans fats—whether it’s bread, buns, muffins, cookies or crackers. Check labels and ask your baker if they use hydrogenated oil.
• Other likely hiding places: doughnuts, pizza crusts, potato chips, shortening, and french fries.
• Any margarine that does not state non-hydrogenated on the packaging likely contains trans fats;

Trans-free Margarines

Margarine manufacturers have developed many soft margarines that are non-hydrogenated. But they’re not entirely trans free. For instance, Becel contains less than 0.1 gram in a 100 gram serving—but that’s so small it’s considered nutritionally insignificant.