What are Trans fats?
Most Trans fats are formed through an industrial process that adds hydrogen to vegetable oil, which causes the oil to become solid at room temperature.
This partially hydrogenated oil is inexpensive and less likely to spoil, so foods made with it have a longer shelf life. Some restaurants use partially hydrogenated vegetable oil in their deep fryers, because it doesn’t have to be changed as often as do other oils.
Some meat and dairy products have a small amount of naturally occurring trans fats. However, it’s not clear how these trans fats affect health.
Trans fats in food
The manufactured form of trans fat, known as partially hydrogenated oil, can be found in a variety of food products, including:
- Commercial baked goods, such as cakes, cookies and pies
- Shortening
- Microwave popcorn
- Frozen pizza
- Refrigerated dough, such as biscuits and rolls
- Fried foods, including french fries, doughnuts and fried chicken
- Nondairy coffee creamer
- Stick margarine