Dorothy
Administrator
69 posts
Jan 22, 2007
4:34 PM
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You’ve no doubt heard that some time in 2007 the cinnamon roll you covet, along with your daily Frappuccino, will be purged of trans fats. Starbucks has joined the likes of Taco Bell, KFC and Wendy’s in vowing to limit or eliminate trans fats from their menus.
That will be then. The skinny is, we’re not there yet. But public pressure—from consumers, New York City legislators, food activists—certainly is getting the attention of food providers. Lawsuits, like those against Kraft Foods (the makers of Oreos) and McDonald’s for their trans-fat-laden products, have turned up the heat even more.
There is a distinct divide between packaged foods and what you might get on your fast-food tray.
“When trans fats labeling laws went into effect, anyone who sells foods in the supermarkets raced to get partially hydrogenated oils [a common description of trans fats] out of their products so they could report no trans fats,” says Jeff Cronin, spokesman for the watchdog group Center for Science in the Public Interest.
A look at the Health & Fitness “Dirty Dozen” of top trans fat offenders that remain in restaurants versus packaged food in grocery stores is telling. For example, the 14 grams of trans fats contained in our top fast-food chain offender, KFC’s chicken pot pie, is twice that of our top offender from the supermarket, the 6 grams of trans fats found in Cinnabon’s Cinnamon and Cream Cheese Turnovers.
Even 6 grams is too much for your body to handle.
“You should have 1 percent or less of your dietary calories from trans fats,” says Cronin, echoing the views of his organization’s nutritionists. “For someone on a 2,000 calorie diet, that’s less than 2 grams of trans fats a day.” That amount, Cronin says, is what an average non-vegetarian eater gets from milk and meat products. This means you want to eat zero trans fats a day from other foods, such as restaurant fare, snacks and treats.
Even so, trans fats still lurk in obvious and not-so-obvious places. The more processed the food, the more likely you’ll find trans fats. Cronin says that of the fast-food chains, “McDonald’s and Burger King are the two biggest chains that haven’t switched.”
As for avoiding trans fats at the supermarket, be wary of food categories such as chicken pot pies, pie crusts, pancake mixes and many frozen foods, he says.
At a restaurant or grocer, the key is to find out which oils were used when preparing the food. Ask your wait staff or read the label. If the item is prepared with partially hydrogenated vegetable oil, then it contains trans fats. If it is prepared with soybean, canola, peanut, sunflower, safflower or other liquid vegetable oils, chances are the food’s free of trans fats.
It’s difficult to figure out the amount of trans fats contained in restaurant food because local laws don’t mandate disclosure of that information. Food labeling laws have made it easier to find out what’s in packaged foods. However, a recent spin through a Safeway store uncovered some high-fat brands—Swanson’s Hungry Man Sports Grill Beer Battered Chicken and Claim Jumper Chicken Fried Beefsteak frozen dinners, for example—that did not disclose trans fat information in their nutrition rundowns. Partially hydrogenated oil was listed as an ingredient.
Note to parents: Beware of the trans fats in the kids menu, too. Burger King’s six-piece crown-shaped chicken tenders, for example, have 2.5 grams of trans fat. A small order of fries adds another 3 grams, which means this kid’s meal has a total of 5.5 grams of trans fat. Ouch.
And one disturbing hitch: FDA regulations stipulate that if a serving contains less than 0.5 grams of trans fat, the manufacturer can say it contains no trans fat. So even when a label says zero trans fat, check that ingredient list. Again, if you see the word “hydrogenated,” the item may still contain small amounts that could add up.
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Trans Fat Dirty Dozen: Packaged Foods
Supermarket Foods*
Trans Fats Per Serving
1. Cinnabon Cinnamon and Cream Cheese Turnovers -6 grams
2. Marie Callender’s Cherry Pie -5.5 grams
3. Pepperidge Farm Turnovers, Apple and Cherry -5 grams
4. Totino’s Crisp Crust Party Pizza -4 grams
5. Pillsbury Dough Perfect Portions Buttermilk Biscuits**
-4 grams
6 Edwards Georgia Pecan Pie -3.5 grams
7. Mrs. Smith’s Cinnabon Cinnamon Pecan Coffee Cake -3 grams
8. Safeway All-Vegetable Shortening -3 grams
9. Imperial Margarine 2.5 grams
10 . Boston Market Country Fried Chicken -2.5 grams
11. Marie Callender’s Chicken Pot Pie -2 grams
12. Aunt Jemima Croissant Sandwiches -2 grams
* For the supermarket version of ”Dirty Dozen,” high-trans fats foods are listed highest per brand.
** Calculated from a series of recipes on the Pillsbury site and from one particular recipe that uses a serving portion of this product and adds no other trans fat-creating ingredients.
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Trans Fat Dirty Dozen: Fast Food
Fast-Food Restaurant Meals
Trans Fats Per Serving
1. KFC’s Chicken Pot Pie -14 grams
2. McDonald’s Deluxe Breakfast -11 grams
3. McDonald’s Large Fries -8 grams
4. Burger King’s King-Size French Fries -7 grams
5. Krispy Kreme’s Apple Fritter -7 grams
6. McDonald’s Big Breakfast -7 grams
7. Krispy Kreme’s Glazed Sour Cream Doughnut -6 grams
8. Krispy Kreme’s Glazed Kreme Filled Doughnut -6 grams
9. Krispy Kreme’s New York Cheesecake Doughnut -6 grams
10. Krispy Kreme’s Chocolate Ice Cream Filled Doughnut-6 grams
11. McDonald’s Deluxe Warm Cinnamon Roll -6 grams
12. McDonald’s Biscuit -5 grams
-By Jean Weiss for Health & Fitness
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Dorothy
(Site Administrator)
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