Re: Shocked at the amount of trans fat.......

[Guest guest]

Use smart balance or Olivio and just measure w/ a measuring cup what you

need....

ssroby ssroby@...> wrote: in stick margarine.

I want to make the oatmeal bars that were posted on the list a few

days/weeks ago. They call for a cup of butter/margarine. Well of course

the easiest way to do that is to add stick butter/margarine. After reading

a post or maybe one of those SBD newsletters I thought it said that

margarine is better. I searched high and low at the grocery store for one

that didn't have any trans fat in it and didn't find a one. The lowest had

1.5g. I grabbed that as I was in a hurry and needed to make some cookies

for an event. Can someone tell me what brand of stick margarine/butter they

buy to save me a little time next time? I make a lot of cookies for my kids

different sports dinners/meals and would like to cut down on the fat they

consume, even if it's in a stick of butter for a recipe.

I also want to thank for all of his wisdom and his willingness to

share it with those of us who are a little " nutrition challenged " ,

especially myself. You've been a source full of information.

Sherye in blistery, cold MI

Please send your recipes for inclusion in the Files to the Moderator at:

South-Beach-Diet-Getting-It-Right-owner

Reminder: The South Beach Diet is not low-carb. Nor is it low-fat. The South

Beach Diet teaches you to rely on the right carbs and the right fats-the good

ones - and enables you to live quite happily without the bad carbs and bad fats.

For more on this Way Of Eating please read " The South Beach Diet " by Arthur

Agatston, MD. ISBN 1-57954-814-8

[Guest guest]

Ok Sherye, ya ready for this one -- nearly ALL of the butter replacement

products contain trans fats. Even most of the ones that say " No Trans Fats "

on the label.

Margarines are oil based rather than dairy based. The problem with this

though is that they are not solid (unlike butter which doesn't suffer this

problem due to its own fat makeup). SO, the manufacturers partially

hydrogenate a portion of the product to make it solid. This process has the

undesirable side effect of creating trans fatty acids.

Under the FDA's guidelines, if a product contains less than .5g of trans

fats per serving, they can claim the product is trans fats free. Here's the

problem -- if their calculations come out to .49g of trans fats per serving,

then that means the product is " legally " trans fats free.

Soooooo, if the label shows partially hydrogenated oils in its ingredients

list, then it DOES have trans fats, even if the rest of the label shows that

it is trans fats free. If it says " hydrogenated oil " (without the

" partially " ) then it's open to interpretation -- do they mean FULLY

hydrogenated (in which case there are no trans fats) or did they simply

leave off the " partially " (which is the case for most instances of this on

food labels)?

My decision, made a long time ago, is to simply avoid anything that has the

word " hydrogenated " in the ingredients listing. We use butter.

At this time, the only butter replacement product I am aware of that does

NOT contain trans fats is Promise and that is because they use gelatin to

firm up their product. I'm not sure how well this would work for cooking as

it's the fat you want in baking (and really, it's the saturated fat that

does the trick here) but you could try it. I need to take some time to read

the labels on all of the major brands at the stores we shop to see if there

are any others.

HTH....

[Guest guest]

Smart Balance doesn't have trans fats.

ann

>

> in stick margarine.

>

> I want to make the oatmeal bars that were posted on the list a

few

> days/weeks ago. They call for a cup of butter/margarine. Well of

course

> the easiest way to do that is to add stick butter/margarine.

After reading

> a post or maybe one of those SBD newsletters I thought it said

that

> margarine is better. I searched high and low at the grocery store

for one

> that didn't have any trans fat in it and didn't find a one. The

lowest had

> 1.5g. I grabbed that as I was in a hurry and needed to make some

cookies

> for an event. Can someone tell me what brand of stick

margarine/butter they

> buy to save me a little time next time? I make a lot of cookies

for my kids

> different sports dinners/meals and would like to cut down on the

fat they

> consume, even if it's in a stick of butter for a recipe.

>

> I also want to thank for all of his wisdom and his

willingness to

> share it with those of us who are a little " nutrition challenged " ,

> especially myself. You've been a source full of information.

>

> Sherye in blistery, cold MI

>

[Guest guest]

,

In the ingredient listing of Smart Balance, there are no hydrogenated

oils.

ann

>

> Ok Sherye, ya ready for this one -- nearly ALL of the butter

replacement

> products contain trans fats. Even most of the ones that say " No

Trans Fats "

> on the label.

>

> Margarines are oil based rather than dairy based. The problem with

this

> though is that they are not solid (unlike butter which doesn't

suffer this

> problem due to its own fat makeup). SO, the manufacturers partially

> hydrogenate a portion of the product to make it solid. This

process has the

> undesirable side effect of creating trans fatty acids.

>

> Under the FDA's guidelines, if a product contains less than .5g of

trans

> fats per serving, they can claim the product is trans fats free.

Here's the

> problem -- if their calculations come out to .49g of trans fats per

serving,

> then that means the product is " legally " trans fats free.

>

> Soooooo, if the label shows partially hydrogenated oils in its

ingredients

> list, then it DOES have trans fats, even if the rest of the label

shows that

> it is trans fats free. If it says " hydrogenated oil " (without the

> " partially " ) then it's open to interpretation -- do they mean FULLY

> hydrogenated (in which case there are no trans fats) or did they

simply

> leave off the " partially " (which is the case for most instances of

this on

> food labels)?

>

> My decision, made a long time ago, is to simply avoid anything that

has the

> word " hydrogenated " in the ingredients listing. We use butter.

>

> At this time, the only butter replacement product I am aware of

that does

> NOT contain trans fats is Promise and that is because they use

gelatin to

> firm up their product. I'm not sure how well this would work for

cooking as

> it's the fat you want in baking (and really, it's the saturated fat

that

> does the trick here) but you could try it. I need to take some

time to read

> the labels on all of the major brands at the stores we shop to see

if there

> are any others.

>

> HTH....

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

> In the ingredient listing of Smart Balance, there are no hydrogenated

> oils.

Good to know. I haven't had the chance to actually go through all the

brands at the store yet (just been too busy lately) but intend to make a

list of those that do not contain unhealthy ingredients. Just gotta find

the time.

[Guest guest]

that's because it's a W/O (water in oil) emulsion, like mayonnaise. it's not

actually a margarine.

it uses fatty acid esters and soy lecithin for emulsification - lecithin which

is what the eggs provide in mayo.

thus why they don't call it margarine anywhere, but just market it generically

as a spread it's great stuff.

~risa (back to her previously scheduled lurking)

*********** REPLY SEPARATOR ***********

>,

>

>In the ingredient listing of Smart Balance, there are no hydrogenated

>oils.

>

>ann

>