DANGER IN OUR DONUTS
The Skinny on Trans Fats

by Pacia Harper, WSGC Member

You’ve probably seen it on a bag of chips or a box of crackers: “No Trans Fats!” Some nutrition labels have trans fat grams listed under the other fats. You might have heard about McDonald’s or the makers of Oreos getting sued because of trans fats. However it happened, most of us have become aware of trans fats—but maybe without much real information. Is this just another health scare? What are these fats, anyway? Are they really so bad? And if they are, what can we do about it?

What are trans fats?
Trans fats are also referred to as trans fatty acids, or TFAs. They are rare in nature, and our bodies do not need them at all. Trans fats are created when polyunsaturated oils, such as soybean oil, are hydrogenated to form solid fat, such as Crisco. The oil molecule starts off in a V shape. The hydrogenation process moves a hydrogen atom from one arm of the V to the other, resulting in a molecule shaped more like a check mark. These new molecules pack together better, which is why the resulting fat is solid at room temperature.

What’s so bad about trans fat?
The problem with trans fats is that our bodies treat them like natural, polyunsaturated oils. We need the essential fatty acids in polyunsaturated oils for many things, such as brain and eye health. Trans fats get incorporated into our cells as if they were healthy fatty acids, but once there, they don’t work the same way. It’s as if you built a highway with cobblestones. You can still use it, but it’s not going to work as well as you want.

The best-known danger of trans fats is the fact that they can increase your risk of heart disease. They’ve been called at least twice as bad for your heart as saturated fat. Saturated fat increases your bad LDL cholesterol levels. Trans fat does this, but it also decreases your levels of protective HDL cholesterol.

There are other, less-established concerns about trans fats. They have been linked to Type II diabetes, allergies, colon cancer, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.

Of special concern to parents is the fact that fetuses, infants and children need good fats for brain growth. Our brains are 60% fat. A high level of trans fat in the diet means that trans fats will be used to grow children’s brains, instead of good fats. Trans fat-based nerve cells will communicate less efficiently, permanently limiting the entire brain’s potential.

Children often eat a lot of processed food and snacks. Without vigilance, this is likely to lead to high trans fat consumption. If you have an infant, you might not be worried—after all, the baby’s not eating French fries! However, pregnant and nursing mothers who consume trans fats will pass them on to their babies. One study showed that babies born to mothers who ate a lot of trans fats had lower birth weights and smaller heads.

And even a little trans fat is not okay. The daily limit for saturated fat is set at ten percent of total calories, because researchers have found that our bodies can handle that much without unhealthy effects. There is no safe level of trans fat. Even one gram per day has been shown to significantly increase the risk of heart disease. (You could get this much from one Eggo waffle.)

Why is this toxic stuff still in foods?
In the 1970s, hydrogenated oils seemed like a good idea—they could replace harmful saturated fats, and they help packaged foods last a long time.

As evidence of the harmful effects of trans fats grew, people demanded that the government ban them. The food industry opposed any kind of labeling or regulation.
After years of lobbying, the government is requiring manufacturers to begin putting grams of TF on nutrition labels, starting in 2006. However, “zero grams” of TF could still mean up to 0.5 grams per serving, or a lot of TF per bag. An outright ban is unlikely, as food producers argue that consumers will be distressed if the taste of their favorite snack food changes.

Denmark has simply banned foods containing more than 2% trans fat. The head of the Danish Nutrition Council points out that, “They say in North America: ‘You can put poison in food, if you label it properly.’ Here in Denmark, we remove the poison and people don’t have to know anything about trans fatty acids.” Canada is also working toward a ban on trans fats.

Protecting your family from trans fats
So what do you do? The first step is simply to stop buying foods containing trans fats, both while shopping and in restaurants. After that, you can work on the food that other people feed your children.

Getting trans fats out of your home
Many, many foods contain trans fats. Almost any packaged, mainstream food is likely to contain them—anything crispy, crunchy, fried, breaded, baked, frosted, creamy, flaky, or saucy. Even soup cups and Ramen noodles are often high in trans fats. There are healthier alternatives available for most of these foods. In addition, many manufacturers have already reduced or eliminated trans fats in their products.

For every food you buy, check the list of ingredients for these words: “partially hydrogenated,” “margarine,” or “shortening.” If you see any of these, it means that the product contains some trans fats. (Due to labeling regulations, a product may have one of these ingredients and still claim zero grams of trans fat.)

For each food you find containing trans fats, figure out if you even want to keep eating that food. If you do, you can find a healthier alternative—many of these are available at the Co-op. There are even great non-hydrogenated margarines available. Do this for a few shopping trips and voila—you have a trans fat-free home!

Avoiding trans fats in restaurants
The new USDA guidelines mention that the average American gets eight percent of their trans fats from French fries. So just cutting out French fries could get you a long way.

In general, the restaurant foods that are most likely to contain high levels of trans fats are fried foods and desserts. Remember that fried foods include foods you might not think of, like doughnuts and egg rolls. As for desserts, some restaurants and bakeries make a point of using only butter in their baking. (The Willy Street Co-op bakery uses butter and nonhydrogenated margarine.)

If you go to a certain restaurant a lot, it’s worthwhile to ask whether the restaurant uses partially hydrogenated oils or hydrogenated margarine. If you’re uncomfortable asking once you’re there, you can call ahead of time. In addition, some restaurants have websites; if you look you may find information about ingredients. (On the McDonald’s site I found ingredient lists, including many items containing partially hydrogenated oils. On the Noodles site I found a statement that they use a canola oil blend. Local food empire Food Fight doesn’t mention it.)

Watching what other people feed your children
Depending on your lifestyle, other people might be feeding your children several meals and snacks per day. If you provide almost all of your children’s meals, you probably don’t need to worry about their snacks at play dates or parties. However, if your children receive meals at school or in childcare, they’re probably getting some trans fats. (Remember, regular consumption is harmful, even in small amounts.)

I have found the situation with schools and childcare to be a bit confusing. The USDA provides detailed “menu patterns” for children’s snacks and meals. These patterns are based on the USDA Dietary Guidelines for Americans (source of the Food Pyramid). The USDA has some enforcement power, since it gives money (or food) to schools and child care centers that follow the patterns. So it could just order everybody to start buying trans fat-free crackers tomorrow.

The newest Dietary Guidelines do call for avoiding trans fat. So you would think that schools would at least be phasing out trans fat-containing foods. But they’re not. Apparently the bureaucratic process for translating the Dietary Guidelines into menu patterns could take several years. That’s a lot of meals, snacks, and trans fats.

What’s happening in Madison
I was curious about what people were doing in Madison. After all, it is all right to feed children better food than the USDA menus call for. So I called the Madison school district and several popular childcare centers. The MMSD food service is still dealing with the demand for low-fat food. They’re working on recipes with less than 30% of calories from fat and less than 10% from saturated fat. They work hard, and things like mini muffins, tater tots and chicken nuggets don’t sound so bad. But it would be hard to get trans fats out of these foods.

The childcare providers I talked to didn’t seem to have trans fats on their radar. I did speak with one teacher who was aware of the problems with trans fats, but the center’s snacks didn’t reflect this. For larger centers, it can be difficult to provide items such as organic milk or TF-free crackers, even if they want to. This is because they depend on large distributors, and if the distributor doesn’t offer something, they can’t buy it. Family childcare may be more flexible, since the care provider is probably just going to the grocery store. And some centers may be more aware of this than the ones I talked to; there are a lot of childcare providers in Madison.

Feed her yourself
What this works out to is that the best way to be sure of what’s in your child’s diet is to feed her yourself, even when she’s away from home. If your child eats school lunches, you might want to start packing sack lunches. If you can’t face packing a lunch every day, maybe you can do it on the days with the most fried food.

If your child eats snacks in childcare, figure out what they’re eating most often, and try to find out what the ingredients are. In my child’s preschool, the foods I’m most concerned about are crackers (including graham crackers) and margarine. It’s pretty easy to provide substitutes for these. Most child-care providers have experience with food restrictions and allergies, so they should be understanding and willing to work with you.
Remember, you may not be able to root out every source of trans fat, and it’s okay if you don’t. The most important thing is to avoid regular consumption. Don’t worry about parties, worry about lunches.

It is also important to give your children plenty of good fats, like nuts and olive oil. These will supply them with the fatty acids they need, so that trans fats don’t have as much of an impact.

Where to go next
This article may have scared you. It scared me, and I’ve been avoiding trans fats for a few years. If you want some verification, or you’re wondering what “good fats” are, there are many sources of information available. The web sites http://www.bantransfats.org and http://www.ctv.ca/generic/WebSpecials/transfat/ have a lot of information on trans fats and further links. For more information on trans fat’s effects on the brain, and the good fats we all need instead, you can visit http://www.fi.edu/brain/fats.htm and http://www.007b.com/breastfeeding_intelligence_diet.php (this is centered on breastfeeding nutrition, but has a good overview of fats, and useful references and links).
In books, Dr. Andrew Weil’s books are great and fairly uncontroversial sources of health information. Dr. William and Martha Sears’ parenting books, such as The Baby Book, also address nutrition. The Crazymakers, by Carol Simontacchi, is an exhaustive look at how modern diets affect our brains. It is very alarming and might seem extreme, but is worth reading. (These are all available from our wonderful public library!)

Raising children brings up one worry after another, and I am sorry if I’ve added another one to your list. But trans fats really are something that’s widespread and dangerous, and avoiding them now will benefit you and your children long into the future. And may it be a long and happy one.