Journal Gunzour's Journal: Trans fats and Oreo cookies
You may have heard of the recent lawsuit filed in California to ban Oreo cookies. While the tactics of bantransfat.com, the organization which filed the suit, may be extreme, their point is valid: Trans fats are bad.
By the way, they have dropped the lawsuit and acknowledged that it was done only for publicity, a move which I applaud.
But the point was to raise awareness of the dangers of trans fats, the lack of information about them on food labelling, and the abundance of them in the processed foods we eat.
Trans fats come from "partially hydrogenated" or "hydrogenated" oils. Partially hydrogenated oil is a common substitute for butter in processed foods. Essentially, partially hydrogenated oil is margarine. Hydrogenation is a process where hydrogen is pumped into the oil, which makes it a solid at room temperature.
Last September, Frito-Lay announced they are replacing partially hydrogenated oils with corn oil in their snack products including Doritos and Tostitos, although the Tostitos I bought last week still had partially hydrogenated oil listed in the ingredients.
I'm personally starting to discover the importantance of truly healthy eating (which, by the way, has little to do with avoiding fat or carbohydrates). (If you're interested, I'm currently reading Traditional Food Are Your Best Medicine by Ronald F. Schmid.) The bantransfat.com website recommends boycotting all foods with trans fats in them to send a message to manufacturers. Personally, I would suggest avoiding these foods for the benefit of your own health, and not for some politically motivated reason.
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Trans fats and Oreo cookies
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