Coming to a label near you: trans fat pervades American food products

posted November 21, 2005

by Caterina Yuan of Campanile

To most people, the discovery of dietary methods to stay healthy is exciting. On the other hand, the discovery that health means eliminating a favorite snack food from one's diet is devastating.

Unfortunately, something sinister lies behind the characteristic flavor and crunch of many classic American snacks –– trans fat.

According to the Food and Drug Administration, the average American consumes 5.8 grams of trans fats per day. Many others consume an excess of 20 grams of trans fats per day –– a statistic that would make a cardiologist wince.

A visit to McDonald's can easily double one's normal intake of trans fat; a large order of french fries contains 6 grams of trans fat, according to McDonald's' website. That's because the partially hydrogenated vegetable oil that McDonald's uses to fry its fries is full of trans fatty acids.

Is there a reason to fear trans fat? What is trans fat, and what makes it so dangerous?

Trans fat refers to a fatty acid in the trans orientation, which makes it structurally different from both saturated and unsaturated fats and also gives it different properties from other fats.

Trans fat is created commercially by adding hydrogen to vegetable oils, a process known as hydrogenation. The process of hydrogenation solidifies the oil, thereby preventing rancidity and extending the shelf life of products containing trans fatty acids.

Using hydrogenated vegetable oil is also cheaper than using other fats, such as butter. For these reasons, trans fat is commonly found in snack foods, such as Oreos and Twinkies. Trans fat is also found in vegetable shortening, some margarines and in foods fried in partially hydrogenated vegetable oils, such as french fries.

According to the FDA, consumption of both trans fat and saturated fat raises levels of Low Density Lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, commonly referred to as "bad cholesterol." High levels of LDL have been shown to increase the risk of coronary heart disease, a condition in which coronary arteries leading to the heart narrow due to cholesterol and fat.

"Trans fat increases LDL and is correlated with heart disease," AP Biology teacher Ronald Pruzan said. "What other evidence do you need [to stop consuming food containing trans fats]?"

Trans fat is considered more dangerous than saturated fat because it also suppresses production of High Density Lipoprotein (HDL), the "good cholesterol," which helps to clean coronary arteries, according to a study conducted by researchers working with the Palm Oil Research Institute of Malaysia.

"Trans fats are like any other toxin; in small amounts they are tolerated by the body, but in larger amounts they lead to measurable reductions in health-blood lipid parameters, increased heart disease, potentially a reduction in neurological function and development," Dr. Clyde Wilson, director of the Center for Human Nutrition, Health, and Performance Sciences at Sports Medicine Institute in Palo Alto, said. "It is not clear at what levels of trans fats these negatives start to show up, but it is clear that if 5 to 10 percent of the calories in one's diet are from trans fats that there is a very real risk."

In response to mounting evidence of the dangers of trans fat, Congress passed a bill in 2003 mandating that levels of trans fat be included on the nutrition facts panel. The law will go into effect January 1, 2006. The FDA hopes that the new labeling system will help to save lives.

The FDA estimates that three years after the implementation of the policy, 600 to 1,200 heart attacks and 250 to 500 deaths will be prevented. Currently, 13 years of life are lost on average due to coronary heart disease.

Under the current policy, only foods with a reportable amount of trans fat per serving, 0.5 grams or more, need to list the amount of trans fat. Foods with less than 0.5 grams of trans fat per serving will be listed as 0 grams of trans fat.

However, the danger lies in the fact that the labeling is per serving, making it dangerous for individuals who consume several servings without knowing how much trans fat they have consumed.

"In a nutshell, the FDA requirement makes it harder for the consumer to be healthy because we now assume that if it says zero next to trans fats on the label we are safe, when we are not," Wilson said. "You must read the label in order to avoid the hazards of trans fat intake. Stay away from hydrogenated food."

A lawsuit by <i>www.BanTransFats.com</i> against Kraft Foods resulted in Kraft's agreement to withdraw all in-school marketing of its products, based on the premise that children cannot make decisions for themselves and do not understand the dangers of trans fat. However, many students seem well aware that trans fats are hazardous to one's health.

"They're bad for you," freshman Tamar Ben-Shachar said. "You're not supposed to eat foods with trans fats, like McDonald's. You should have fat, but not trans fat."

A National Academy of Sciences report recommends that trans fat consumption be as low as possible. Furthermore, the study suggests eating a nutritionally adequate diet, as a biological necessity for trans fat has not been established.

"[Trans fats] are pretty easily avoided," senior Megan Grant said. "My mom buys SmartBalance, a type of margarine that doesn't have trans fat."

Conscious of the lethal and varied dangers of trans fats, many people have taken steps to reduce trans fat consumption in their lives. Increasingly, the health conscious feel that the simplest way to avoid the consequences of trans fats is to avoid foods containing them altogether.

"People should just take trans fats out of their diets," Pruzan said. "It's not that hard."