So I’m looking at this bag of cheese puffs that a friend bought -some hole-in-the-wall brand; never heard of it before- and to my surprise, on the front of it read “0 Grams Trans Fat”. What’s not to approve? It’s about time, I thought to myself. Then I looked at the nutritional disclosure thingy on the back and practically the first thing on the list was:
drumroll
…partially hydrogenated vegetable oil.
Can people actually get away with that?
It seems to mirror the spirit of the times, doesn’t it.
that’s because “zero” isn’t really “none” - it means it’s less than a certain percentage (which is different in the US then it is in Canada, for instance).
Also just because an oil is partially hydrogenated, doesn’t mean the bonds are all TRANS. They could be CIS in configuration. Current thinking is the TRANS are worse than the CIS.
“Would it surprise you to know that some dietary supplements contain trans fat from partially hydrogenated vegetable oil as well as saturated fat or cholesterol? It’s true. As a result of the FDA’s new label requirement, if a dietary supplement contains a reportable amount of trans or saturated fat, which is 0.5 gram or more, dietary supplement manufacturers must list the amounts on the Supplement Facts panel. Some dietary supplements that may contain saturated fat, trans fat, and cholesterol include energy and nutrition bars.”
According to this, “partially” isn’t the leverage; partially hydrogenated oils contain trans fatty acids, so it’'s the amounts that are in question. Per the above, it’s grams that dictate what can or must be declared. It makes sense, then, that cakes and cookies and such would have higher quantities whereas high-temperature fried snacks would have little by comparison. Good link, Lorenzo.
Still, it grates on me. That sort of hair-splitting is like the kid who, when told, “You haven’t even touched your vegetables”, paws his carrots and says,“There. I’ve touched my vegetables.”
Sorry, but your whole rant sounds a bit silly. Unless you have been living under a rock for the last thirty years, you should know by now that chips, puffs, etc. are all garbage, aptly named “junk food”. To sit there knowingly stuffing in junk food and complaining about which parts of the junk are junkier than the rest seems a bit pointless.
If you really cared about what you were eating you wouldn’t be eating this stuff in the first place. There is no such thing as an “okay” amount of junk food.
I didn’t say I was eating it. I wasn’t, and I seldom if ever do. It seems you missed my initial point, which was my dismay at the discrepancy of a declared statement with actual reality. Truth-in-advertising, and all that. Then we find that this is all due to FDA standards, and all is explained. Maybe. On track, now?
The thing about disclosure lists is that they list ingredients in order of predominance without stating actual percentages. The partially hydrogenated oil was very high on the list, and that’s what has me wondering about the “0 Grams Trans Fat” declaration on the front of the bag I had looked at.
Wanna go nuts over ingredients lists? How about ice cream or yogurt? I’m not sure about US rules, but here, the fruit etc. is considered an additive, and guess what? They don’t have to tell you what’s in the additives. So a yogurt company can push all they like about the healthful benefits of their yogurt, and never have to mention that the raspberries are saturated with a known carcinogen like red dye #5, or that it is dripping with processed sugar. Neat eh?
Here in the US, I get the impression that all ingredients are -I think- supposed to be laid out for inspection. For example, you can buy an ice cream product that has an added ingredient like crushed malted milk balls, and that ingredient will have its ingredients listed parenthetically. You see it quite a bit, but I don’t know how much of this is discretionary or a matter of FDA standards requiring some products to be disclosed and others being exempted. I’m generally suspicious no matter what I read.
It was here at C&F that I learned the saying: “Knowledge is understanding that tomatoes are fruit. Wisdom is knowing not to put tomatoes in a fruit salad.” Or something like that.
“Flavors” are usually proprietory ingredients. The company that produces the flavor supplies just enough description of the ingredients to satisfy labeling requirements, but it’s very, very seldom that a company using the flavoring will know exactly what is in there and at what level it’s in there. Especially when you get below that magical “2%” level.
Then there’s the whole “natural” flavor thing. MSG is natural, so when something states “natural flavor” on a label, it could have MSG in it and not actually declare it. Or, you could be drinking sometime labeled “100% natural fruit juice” that is called “white grape juice” - but on the ingredient label, you’ll find it’s almost all actually apple juice.
And THEN you get into the entire Prop 65 labeling in California.
You do know that the definition of “organic” is set by the individual states (at least the granting of an organic farming certification is done by the state agricultural department) and those definitions are different state to state? In SOME states, it means that the land the produce has been grown in has been organically farmed (no chemical pesticides or herbicides) for 10 years. That’s it. No testing of soil to look for residuals (or heavy metals, etc.). And no testing of, say, manure to say that IT is free of pesticides and herbicides. Now - some growers may do these tests on their own, but they are NOT required.
And if you use “natural” suppliments, you REALLY need to do some homework. There may actually be NO “active” ingredient (or at least the active ones you think you are taking) in them at all. And - again - there may be no testing of residuals - you really DON’T want to take calcium that’s made from oyster shells (dolamite) unless it’s been tested for heavy metals!
