September 07, 2003|By Elizabeth Large | Elizabeth Large,Sun Staff
Trans fat has no redeeming virtues -- at least not for you the consumer -- so you might as well eliminate it when you can. Here are some key points:
* If you must eat processed food, look for ones that are made with unhydrogenated oils.
* Even if the oil is partially hydrogenated, it still contains trans fat.
* Even if the oil is one of the healthy ones like canola in its liquid form, it still contains trans fat when it's been hydrogenated. Some margarine manufacturers use this confusion to their advantage.
* Many no-trans fat products can be found in natural foods stores.
* The higher up in the list of ingredients partially hydrogenated oils are, the more trans fat the product is likely to contain.
* A product labeled as low in saturated fats can still contain lots of trans fat.
* Just because it has no trans fat doesn't mean it has no bad fat.
* Your favorite commercial baked good is probably loaded with trans fat -- unless it's a bagel.
* Unless it's fried in a high-end restaurant, it's probably loaded with trans fat.
* If you're eating out, consider that biscuits and pie crusts usually contain partially hydrogenated oils.
* Remember, if your kids love it, it probably has trans fat in it. Read the labels of their snacks even if you don't bother with anything else.
