Growers and Grocers

On the heels of the New York City ban, most consumers have at least heard of trans fats. Trans fats, which show up on ingredients labels as hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated soybean or vegetable oils, have been in American food since the 1950’s and are found in more items than there is space here to list. Some of the most common are muffins, pastries, soups, cookies, salad dressing and bagels. Trans fats are used by the food industry because they keep items fresh, do not get oily, do not go rancid and can give baked goods a crunchy texture.

But why should the American food industry eliminate them entirely? How are they different from saturated fat or refined starches and sugar, which are also unhealthy? When I attended the Worlds of Healthy Flavors retreat, hosted by the Culinary Institute of American and the Harvard School of Public Health, the Chairman of the the School of Health’s Department of Nutrition and co-author of Eat, Drink & Weigh Less, Dr. Walter Willett, characterized trans fats as “metabolic poison.” Dr. Willett, who is also the Chair of the WOHF Scientific Advisory Committee, provided 10 reasons why trans fats should be entirely eliminated from American menus:

1.  There is no safe amount of consumption of trans fats. Trans fats are also part of the general category of partially hydrogenated fats that “should be avoided whenever possible.”

2.  If Americans replaced partially hydrogenated fat with natural, unhydrogenated vegetables oils, the change would result in prevention of “approximately 30,000 premature coronary deaths per year, and epidemiologic evidence suggests that trans fats are responsible for 100,000 premature deaths annually.”

3.  While saturated fats are bad for you, trans fats are even worse. Both types of bad fats raise the level of bad cholesterol (LDL) and increase risk of heart disease. Trans fats also lower the level of good cholesterol (HDL), which is “the protective form of cholesterol.”

4.  Science has shown that trans fats “reduce the flexibility of arteries which has been related to higher risk of heart disease.”

5.  Trans fats “fire inflammation, which plays key roles in the development of heart disease, diabetes and probably other leading causes of death and disability.”

6.  Trans fats increase the risk of Type 2 diabetes and “have been correlated with increased body weight more strongly than any other dietary factors (even when total dietary calories are controlled).”

7.  Trans fats are linked to age-related neurological disorders like Alzheimer’s and have been linked to infertility.

8.  Government regulations are increasingly banning, restricting or limiting trans fats. American nutrition researchers are “strongly lobbying the federal government to remove partially hydrogenated oils - and the trans fats they contain - from the official FDA list of “generally regarded as safe” (GRAS) foods.

9.  Consumers are learning about trans fats and their detrimental effects. If the food industry removes trans fats now, it “will be better prepared for the likely increase in restrictions on these fats” and can improve customer loyalty and the corporate image.

10.  Worries associated with eliminating trans fats are generally about technical performance of a substitute, adequate supply and affordability. However, “American agriculture and foodservice suppliers are now energetically responding with a variety of healthier menu solutions to trans fats” that are reducing or obviating such concerns.

Are there any others that you think should be added to Dr. Willett’s list?

Photo courtesy of the Culinary Institute of America.