What's up with this "0 grams trans-fat" crap??

[NFS4]

I went to the supermarket last night to get some snacks and some munchies. Got a bag of Fritos corn chips, and on it it says "0 grams trans-fat." I get a bag of Cheetos, same thing. I go pickup a bag of Tyson chicken tenders "0 grams trans-fat"

What's up with this trans-fat crap? Is this something that the fatties are looking out for nowadays? :laugh:

 

[ggavinmoss]

It's going to be required soon, companies are getting a jump on it.

-geoff

 

[Lorax]

fat that changes gender.

 

[Beau]

It's fat that likes to dress up as other nutrients, but is still essentially fat.

Edit:

:beer: lorax

 

[WobbleWobble]

Trans-fat is pretty bad for you, regardless of how fat you are.

I think they're looking to ban products with trans-fat in Canada.

 

[Gurck]

Supposedly very bad for you... naturally, it tastes great :frown:

 

[Beau]

Trans Fatty Acids

 

[Descartes]

I think it's fully realized how detrimental trans-fats can be if consumed in the gluttonous manner it so often is (or hell, consumed at all for that matter), and so there's likely to be a continued "We're trans-fat free!" propaganda campaign from the large producers of this tripe.

 

[Your Ears]

Normal unsaturated fats are cis fats, they have lower melting points, liquid at room temperature. Trans fats are chemically modified to be solid at room temperature and do not occur naturally, your body can't digest them.

 

[redly]

now they need to institute the glycemic index so we can weed out the good carbs from the bad

 

[Kibbo]

It doesn't make you any fatter than any other fat, but it does hurt your heart more than other fats.

AFAIK.

And the bill passed up here IIRC. Personally, I think that applying a "sin tax" would've been more appropriate. Otherwise, we'll have pie-bakers smuggling mass amounts of Shortening across the border.

**UPDATE** Parliament has passed a motion to start a task force to investigate regulatory or legislative options regarding the restriction of trans fats in products sold in Canada. The motion requires action within one year. Health Canada, anticipating the motion, formed a Task Force 5 days before it was passed.
Linky

 

[jagec]

It's because what they USED to use was shortening/butter. That has a lot of saturated fat, so they switched to trans fats (which look better on the nutrition label). Now everyone hates those, so the companies have to throw their hands up in disgust and say "Why don't you guys stop trying to buy whichever grease-filled oversweet cookie is 'healthiest'?"

 

[Chaotic42]

-
What are trans fatty acids and where do they come from?

A fatty acid molecule consists of a chain of carbon atoms in carbon-carbon double bonds with hydrogen atoms "attached." In nature most unsaturated fatty acids are cis fatty acids. This means that the hydrogen atoms are on the same side of the double carbon bond. In trans fatty acids the two hydrogen atoms are on opposite sides of the double bond.

Trans double bonds can occur in nature as the result of fermentation in grazing animals. People eat them in the form of meat and dairy products.

Trans double bonds are also formed during the hydrogenation (hi"dro-jen-A'shun or hi-DROJ'en-a"shun) of either vegetable or fish oils. French fries, donuts, cookies, chips and other snack foods are high in trans fatty acids. In fact, nearly all fried or baked goods have some trans fats.
-

Here's a nice site about them

 

[SacrosanctFiend]

Mmmm, that's the taste of free radicals destroying your cells.

 

[oogabooga]

people have already explained it, but transfat is mainly from oil that been hydrogenated. It's just a lot worse for your body.

btw :
Carb = 4 calories / gram
Protein = 4 calories / gram
Fat = 9 calories / gram

high fat intake = almost double caloric intake. You need fat, but excess is obviously very bad for you.
You can look for hydrogenated oil on foods/products, and if you see it in the ingredients list, it has transfat.

 

[Babbles]

Your body needs all sorts of different things for proper nutrition: proteins, amino acids, vitamins, carbs, sugars, fats. However trans-fat has no nutritional value at all and is in fact quite bad for you.
The moderate intake of some fats is good, in fact needed, again trans-fat, though, has no value and can cause a significant amount of harm.

Perhaps these new "no trans-fat" type labels are one of the few marketing gimmicks that is helpful.

 

[rahvin]

Recent studies have indicated that there is no safe level of consumption of trans-fats, they seems to cause major cholesterol and other heart problems even in small quantities. The FDA is about to require labeling specifying the quantity of trans-fat and the a possible warning saying trans-fats in any quantity are heart killers. There is a suprising parity between the use of trans-fat in junk food the rise of heart disease.