Trans: the phantom fat - trans fatty acids - includes list of sources of trans fatty acids - Cover Story

Nutrition Action Healthletter, Sept, 1996 by Margo Wootan, Bonnie Liebman, Wendie Rosofsky

It's not saturated, monounsaturated, or polyunsaturated, according to the "Nutrition Facts" label on food packages. Except for a few margarines that proudly declare "no trans fatty acids," it's invisible.

But not to your blood vessels. In half a dozen clinical studies, trans fat raised people's blood cholesterol about as much as saturated fat did.

"It's a secret killer," says Walter Willett, head of the nutrition department at the Harvard School of Public Health. "With saturated fat, at least food labels tell you how much you're eating. With trans, it's anybody's guess."

That's why the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI)--the nonprofit consumer advocacy group that publishes Nutrition Action Healthletter--has petitioned the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to require that trans fat be included not just in the Total Fat number on food labels (as it is now), but in the Saturated Fat number as well. That way, consumers would be able to see how much artery-clogging fat any food had.

That wouldn't be necessary if it were easy to figure out how much trans fat a food contains. But it's just about impossible.

Trans is created when oils are "partially hydrogenated." Hydrogenation is what turns liquid oil into Crisco or stick margarines. It also makes oils more stable (so they can be re-used more times in deep-frying) and makes pie crusts flakier and french fries crispier.

You could cut trans fat by avoiding the thousands of foods with "partially hydrogenated oil" in their ingredient lists. But that may not be practical. Besides, the oil in some foods is only slightly hydrogenated--which means there's just a little trans. Unfortunately, there's no simple way to distinguish them from foods whose oil is heavily hydrogenated--which means it has lots of trans.

It's not just the "Nutrition Facts" panels that will snooker you. You've got to watch out for the claims on the packages as well. The FDA limits the amount of saturated fat in foods that make a "no-cholesterol" or "low-cholesterol" claim. But it sets no limit on trans fat. If the agency counted trans along with saturated fat, it would be illegal for products like Nabisco Oreos or Wheat Thins to call themselves "no-cholesterol."

And how do you avoid trans fat when you eat out? There's no ingredient list to clue you in, and the companies' nutrition brochures ignore it.

That's why we conducted our own nationwide trans test. We analyzed 41 foods or meals that are made with partially hydrogenated oils or shortenings.

Our conclusion: Unsuspecting consumers--some under doctors' orders to cut artery-clogging fat to reduce their risk of heart disease--are being broadsided by foods that are far more damaging than they appear to be.

FRENCH FRY FRAUDS

It was a huge victory...or so we thought. In the late 1980s, pressure from CSPI and other consumer groups forced the major fast food hamburger chains to stop frying their potatoes, fish, and chicken in beef tallow.

"McDonald's French Fries to be Cooked in Cholesterol-Free, 100% Vegetable Oil," announced the company's press release in 1990.

It was only partially right. The switch was not to pure vegetable oil, but to partially hydrogenated vegetable shortening.

The distinction isn't trivial. Our tests show that, thanks to their trans fat, the french fries sold at McDonald's, Arby's, and Hardee's have roughly as much artery-clogging fat as if they were fried in lard. Burger King and Wendy's fries are even worse. They're a bigger threat to your arteries than potatoes cooked in beef tallow.

In each case, if you ask the order-taker for a nutrition brochure, you'll see only the amount of saturated fat the fries contain. Not a peep about trans. That means half the artery-clogging fat is invisible.

Until fast food chains make good on their promise to use 100% vegetable oil, keep in mind that, to your arteries, a large order of fries from McDonald's, Arby's, or Hardee's looks like a Quarter Pounder. And a large fries from Burger King or Wendy's looks like 1 1/2 Quarter Pounders. Some side dish.

What about frozen supermarket potatoes? Ounce for ounce, the two we tested, Ore-Ida Tater Tots and Ore-Ida Snackin' Fries, were no different than fries from McDonald's, Hardees, and Arby's. (Ore-Ida says that it has reformulated its Snackin' Fries to have less saturated fat, but the newer incarnation is still bad news.)

CHICKEN BIG MAC NUGGETS

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that fried chicken is fatty. But it does take a chemist, test tubes, and a lab to ferret out how much your heart is threatened by fried chicken's fat. Thanks to the trans fat:

* An order of nine McDonald's Chicken McNuggets is no healthier than a Big Mac.

* A Burger King Chicken Sandwich is roughly the same as a corned beef sandwich plus a bag of potato chips.

* A KFC Original Recipe (thigh and drumstick) Dinner with mashed potatoes and gravy, cole slaw, and a biscuit harbors 52 grams of fat and a day's worth of artery-clogging fat wrapped up in 1,160 calories. (If you skip the skin, we figure you'll save 550 calories and 22 grams of fat, 14 of them trans or saturated.)