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vegetable shortening (hydrogenated fat)

3K views 5 replies 5 participants last post by  rawgirl 
#1 ·
If you see vegetable shortening on a packet (and steer clear of packeted foods generally, hence the inexperience) ...thats trans fat right??

i know that hydrogenised and partially hydrogenised are.

but in something dairy and wheat free my friend is buying by the truckload (made of sugar, rice flour, milled corn, vegetable gum, honey etc..very hi G.I. i'd be guessing) when the last ingrediant is vegetable shortening...is that what it means? I know a lot of the time it does. but is it an always thing??

 
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#4 ·
Shortening almost always has trans fats... it is one of the greatest sources of trans fats. It is made using the hydrogenation process, which creates the trans bonds in the fatty carbon chains.

You CAN find trans-fat free shortening - I believe Crisco introduced it a couple years ago - what they do is TOTALLY hydrogenate the fats, which saturates them, turning them into saturated fats... then I think they combine it with liquid vegetable oil to make it softer. But I'm guessing this product is pretty expensive and not what is commonly used in cookies and baked goods purchased in stores.

http://www.webmd.com/content/article/71/81217.htm

Also, beware of products that list "0 grams trans fat" - if it says "partially hydrogenated" in the ingredient list, that means it has SOME trans fat, and I personally believe that there really isn't a safe amount we can take in - so why chance it? I believe saying 0 grams is misleading, it should I've been done in tenths of a gram to protect consumers.

http://www.bantransfats.com/

This will explain to you better what the difference is, chemically, between the different types of fats. It's an old press release, but the info is still correct.

http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/qatrans.html

Please note, that now there are several types of margarine you can buy that are made from non-hydrogenated oils.
 
#5 ·
"Also, beware of products that list "0 grams trans fat" - if it says "partially hydrogenated" in the ingredient list, that means it has SOME trans fat, and I personally believe that there really isn't a safe amount we can take in - so why chance it? I believe saying 0 grams is misleading, it should I've been done in tenths of a gram to protect consumers."

yes, i only recently figured this out and was so dissappointed...i was going by the "o trans fat" claims and then read more closely and saw that the margarine and pnut butter i've been buying still has "partially hydrogenated vegetable oils"...my fault for being lazy with the label reading, but its still frustrating...

my son, doesn't go for the "natural" peanut butters...probably just because he's not use to the different consistency--and i'm assuming the consistency is part of what changes with the hydrogenanted oils?
 
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