"The Truth: FDA allows manufacturers to make this claim when their products contain less than 0.5 gram of trans fats per serving. It may seem insignificant, but 0.49 gram of this nefarious fat can add up quickly." - EAT THIS NOT THAT
Did everybody read that correctly? So apparently if you're a food manufacturer and you make your serving size smaller so that your amount of Trans fat is less than .5, you get to put "0 grams of Trans fat" on your label. I knew this fact and I thought I was good about reading labels to see past the lies but the other day I checked the peanut butter. I knew peanut butter had a lot of extra sugar but I didn't think it had (Partially Hydrogenated Oils). It does by the way. Whenever you "Hydrogenate" a fat, partially or not, you get trans fats. If you don't care about saturated fat and sugar and all that health stuff, at least care about trans fat. This is like a mutated super fat that jacks you up faster and longer than you can imagine. There are some traces of naturally occurring trans fats in nature but the majority of trans fats occur through processing, which makes them completely foreign substances to our bodies. I'm not a tyrant about food labels most of the time because I believe people should be responsible for knowing what they eat. But this is a matter of ingredients and companies found a legal loophole. If it has .34 grams of trans fat per serving it should say that. Oh well, luckily they can't get around having to list Hydrogenated oils in the ingredients, which by the way, always means there is trans fat. Another fancy word for hydrogenated fat.................................."SHORTENING". TA-DA!. Remember when people thought shortening was better for you than butter. Maybe you were told that because the profit margin on shortening is way higher than butter and shortening will last longer than you will on a shelf. I'll take my natural saturated fats in butter over laboratory trans fats in shortening everyday of the week. Sparingly of course.
P.S. I found some organic peanut butter right next to the Jiffy and checked it's label, it contains....
1.) Peanuts
2.) Salt
That's it.
The other stuff contains......
1.) Peanuts (that's good)
2.) Sugar
3.) Hydrogenated vegetable oils
4.) Molasses (that's sugar by the way)
5.) salt
So if you're eating a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, or your kid is, maybe the jelly should be enough sugar for one sandwich. I'm actually surprised about this, I don't know why I thought this sandwich was okay. You might as well send your kid to school with a cream filled long john or a cinnamon roll. Why are today's youth becoming obese? What's the answer to this mystery? SUGAR FILLING ON SUGAR BREAD WITH A SIDE ORDER OF TRANS FAT CHIPS AND A 12 OUNCE CAN OF SUGAR WATER BECAUSE REGULAR WATER JUST DOESN'T TASTE GOOD. THAT IS WHY WE ARE THE FATTEST COUNTRY IN THE ENTIRE WORLD. THE LEAST WE COULD DO WITH OUR INSANE ABUNDANCE OF FOOD IS EAT PROPERLY. Okay, enough caps lock. That's me yelling by the way, When I write something in all capital letters it's my way of computer yelling.
I don't think it's the "organic" that makes the peanut butter better, look for natural peanut butter or something that sets it apart but CHECK THE INGREDIENT LIST, it's about the only thing they can't legally lie about. The natural or organic stuff will separate a little bit like a vinaigrette. You just have to stir the oil back in.
funny story. At the store when I was figuring all this out, this lady with her super old father in a wheelchair were checking out the organic peanut butter and I overheard their conversation.
Lady: "I don't like this organic stuff, there's oil sitting on top"
old guy: "I just stir it back in"
Lady: "I know, but it's really hard to stir it cuz the stuff on the bottom is really hard"
old guy: "Ahg, I just stir it up, works fine"
If you're too lazy to stir it up, let the trans fats do it for you, that's one of the reasons it's in there.
great post...another lesson learned! I feel sorta blessed to have a daughter (4) who doesn't care for sweets (would rather eat fruit) and a hubby who eats whatever I cook, so watching what we eat in the family is a little (ok A LOT) easier!
ReplyDeleteI have 1 more pound to hit the 50 pound mark...every morning I get on the scale and beg that it goes down 1 more pound...LOL!
Thanks for the 411!
i never knew that you were so passionate about peanut butter. ;) love ya!
ReplyDeleteGood stuff.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, everyone should be aware that many companies feel that it's worth the cost to make people think they are getting zero (fat, carbs, calories, whatever), so they just pay the fine every year. It's perfectly legal.
This is particularly true in the "Diet" soda industry. It's important to keep this in mind. That is why consuming food that is less processed and more organic is always better!
Like they always say....just shop on the outside aisles at the store and you're already winning have the battle to eat healthier foods!
hey look, i only had to scroll for on half of a second to find the end. just maaaaybe i will read about passionate peanut butter :)
ReplyDeleteAsh and I always buy Natural Peanut Butter. Its great and a great way to get in some of your good fats for the day. The Best kind you can get is the type you have to refrigerate. I dont go that far but there are some decent shelf natural PB's that one can buy and taste great.
ReplyDelete