What are trans fatty acids?

Trans fat, what is that? Most of us don’t really know; heck, we don’t even know how to spell it, we just know it’s bad. And now we know it’s to be banned in Manhattan restaurants. Well, why? And how are the chefs going to replace it? Let’s take a look.

Most of us don’t know what trans fats are because we tune out the instant we see the description. For some reason, reporters can’t tell the story without adding molecular blah blah blah. See what I mean? Tune out!

Here, I’ll tell you what trans fatty acids are: Think Crisco. There you have it, trans fat, a big white glob of it, and obviously bad for you. Easy!

Manufacturers of packaged foods and suppliers of fast foods use trans fats because the foods are easier to work with; they have a wider margins of heat range and they store better. When trans fats are used for deep frying — think french fries — that vat of cooking oil can be used longer; it doesn’t go rancid as quickly as non-hydrogenated vegetable oil does.

We know in our guts this stuff is bad. It doesn’t take a bunch of science to tell us this all sounds yucky. Meanwhile, health science does tell us this: Trans fatty acids raise LDL cholesterol (the bad kind) and lower HDL (the protective kind), and even those of us on the fence about cholesterol concerns vs journalistic and pharmaceutical hype (did I give myself away here?) want our HDL as high as we can get it. There’s also a clear connection between trans fats and diabetes, although the reasoning is less clear.

The reporting of trans fatty acids as an ingredient has been required on food labels since January, a year ago. You’ll find it under the Total Fat section of the Nutrition Facts box. The current recommendation is to keep trans fats below two grams per 2,000 calories, nearly impossible, although not wholly impossible for those who cook at home and don’t eat packaged baked goods.

What food products contain trans fats? Well, think about it. What foods require fats in cooking and require long shelf life? Cookies. Crackers. Stuff in convenience packaging, mostly.

How about this one? Microwave popcorn. What do you suppose that thick gooey stuff in the sealed, room-temperature pre-pack is? How do you suppose that sits on the shelf and still tastes “normal” all those months later? Not all, but some of these packages contain up to 15 grams of trans fats per bag — that’s about a week’s worth, assuming you don’t eat any other manufactured foods that week.

The moral to that scare is to make your own popcorn. Here’s the catch: When you cook with high heat, you need to use a high-heat oil such as canola oil; you need to pop it slower and shake it more so it doesn’t get to the smoke point. Better yet, get yourself a hot-air popper and add a little olive or canola oil for flavor after popping.

New York City’s ban on trans fats was all over the news earlier this month when the regulation was passed to outlaw trans fatty acids in some restaurant recipes by July 2007, with the remainder to follow a year later. The City may be on the forefront of the regulatory movement, but some cities such in California have already called for voluntary compliance, and other governmental agencies are considering future bans. The removal of trans fats from our foods is clearly in our future, because as more restaurants and commercial food producers replace the bad fats, others will be pressured by simple capitalism to join the effort. Now that we know better, we want better.

In fact, many food conglomerates have already moved in the direction. Kentucky Fried Chicken and McDonalds, among others, have replaced or are replacing their partially-hydrogenated cooking fats, but the problem is the conversion of the oils during high-heat cooking. The answer to that one is individual and as simple as “don’t eat deep-fried foods.” Donuts are out — across the board… o u t.

So, what do the chefs use instead? To start with, butter will return to the main stage after having been shoved aside by margarine over the decades since trans fatty acids became commonplace. Many current-day margarines have zero trans fats, and can be used by the chefs, but my guess is as long as they’re re-tooling their recipes, most will opt for the healthier choices, canola oil, for example. Baking requires a thicker consistency to get the right mouth feel, so recipe designers will use oils and additives such as applesauce, ricotta cheese or fruit purees to bring texture to their baked goods.

Your take-home message for today’s lesson is really, really easy.

Don’t eat from colorful boxes that come off non-refrigerated shelves in the middle aisles of the grocery store.
Avoid fast-food restaurants and Krispy Kreme donut stands.
Trash any pie-shortening sticks and half-used Crisco cans shoved to the back of your bottom cupboards.
Saute with butter under low heat.
That’s it. Skim over the molecular science and this food ingredient stuff isn’t so hard.

*Trans fats naturally occurring in some animal and milk products are likely to be safe for consumption.

Laree Draper

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Posted on December 19th, 2006 by Laree
Source: davedraper.com/blog/2006/12/19/what-are-trans-fatty-acids/