Trans fats are still in a lot of foods, but since food labels will be required to list trans fat content by 2006, many manufacturers are removing trans fats from their foods.
I think it's funny when you see Nabisco proclaiming "No Trans Fats!" on the side of their Wheat Thins box... because for years they've put trans fats in their crackers without ever caring. But since they risk losing customers if they don't remove the trans fats, now they're interested in trumpeting their trans-fat-free crackers.
It's like Nabisco is trying to say, "Hey, check out the new Wheat Thins. See how healthy they are?" Lame. Sorry, but I'll continue to support companies that are truly interested in my health.
So—how bad are trans fats? Early to rise reports:
"Bruce Holub, a professor of nutritional sciences at Canada's University of Guelph, told the Toronto Globe and Mail that ingesting a daily gram of trans-fat over several years is enough to significantly boost your risk of heart disease. And the professor points out that as few as two crackers can contain an entire gram of the bad stuff."
An article on Creative Loafing gets more specific and says: "Four to five daily grams of trans fat doubles the risk of heart disease."
Maybe it's this risk that caused Denmark to severely limit trans fats in March 2003 or caused Canada to effectively ban trans fats on November 18, 2004, less than a month ago as of this writing.
For more on trans fats, check out this interesting blog post I found on View from the Loft.
I dunno. I suppose it's all about some sort of balance. I eat all sorts of crap, but I'm vegetarian. Last time I had my chloesterol checked the doc said I had the levels of a small child.
Given the choice between two equals, I'd probably choose the one with no trans fat. But I'm not exactly hyperventilating over it.
Posted by: MamaGeph | 14 December 2004 at 05:07 PM