Ask a Dietitian

While fat is an important part of our diet, contributing to our energy source, absorption of vitamins A, D, E, and K, body temperature regulation, and hormone production, not all fats are created equal. Fat comes in three main forms, saturated, unsaturated and trans fat. We want more unsaturated fats and less of the others. Fats such as saturated fats and trans fat are more solid at room temperature and tend to me more shelf stable. Unfortunately saturated and trans fats are known to increase cholesterol and risk of heart disease (amongst other health implications). In fact, due to these implications, mandatory nutrition labeling of trans fat content was formally introduced in Canada. Canada was the first country in the world to instigate such labeling. More recently Canada’s food industry has had to take one step further to reduce our intake of trans fat by limiting trans fat content of vegetable oils and soft spreadable margarines to 2% and limiting trans fat content of all foods to 5% (including ingredients sold to restaurants). The industry has been given 2 years to implement these changes. In the mean time, the consumer needs to be up to speed on how to look for whether a food contains trans fat and ways to limit it in our diets.

What is Trans Fat?
Trans fat is produced when manufacturers add hydrogen to vegetable oils (called hydrogenation). This makes a liquid fat (vegetable oil) into a solid fat (eg. Shortening). This process can increase the shelf life and flavour stability of the product.

Where is it Found?
Naturally in some animal products such as dairy, beef and lamb in small amounts
In some vegetable oils such as soybean and canola oils, formed from the refining process
In commercial food products that have ingredients that say “hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated vegetable oils”. This ingredient can sometimes be found in shortenings, packaged foods (ie. Cookies, crackers, chips), protein bars and powders, muffins, pastries, chocolate bars and fast foods.

How does Trans Fat affect my Health?
Trans fat can impact your risk of heart disease by increasing your LDL cholesterol (the “bad cholesterol” and also lowers your levels of HDL cholesterol (“good cholesterol” that protects against heart disease). While saturated fats also have implications for heart disease, it is differs from trans fat in by raising both LDL and HDL cholesterol. Researchers from the University of Alberta have also found that not only do saturated and trans fats clog arteries, they also interfere with the electrical rhythm of the heart and increase the risk of sudden death due to a heart attack. These fats seem to cause a calcium build-up in the heart which disrupts the normal rhythm.

What to Look for on the Label:
The nutritional facts can say that the product contains 0g of trans fat if it has less than 0.2g of trans fat in the product. So the key is to also look at the ingredients. Look for buzz words such as shortening, hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated in the list to indicate to you that the product does have trans fat in it (even in small amounts). Remember that if you are having multiple servings of something that states 0g but contains less then 0.2g per serving, those trans fat grams can add up and may implicate your health.

How much Trans fat can I have?
Canadians consume more trans fat than almost anywhere else in the world with an average of 8.4g of trans fat per day. This is about 10% of our daily calories. Canadian men 18-34 years old consume an estimated 39g of trans fat per day.
Health Canada and the American Heart Association recommend that trans fats be limited to less than 1% of total caloric intake (less than 2.5g per day) and that saturated fats be limited to no more than 7% of total caloric intake.

How do I Minimize my Intake?
Avoid fried foods at restaurants and high fat bakery products.
Ask your server, grocer or baker whether the item contains trans fat if you suspect it.
Choose low fat dairy and lean meats.
Avoid breaded and deep fried foods.
Read the label and look at the ingredients
Decrease packaged, processed foods in your diet.
Choose soft margarines with the phrase “non-hydrogenated”
Don’t fry foods and reuse the oil afterwards

So what are Manufacturers using Instead of Trans fat in Food products?
Many are using palm and coconut oils to replace trans fat. These oils are high in saturated fats. Some are using Modified or Fractionated oils as a substitute. Modified oils can be unhealthy when it involves introducing a saturated fat to the mix of fats, which will turn the unsaturated fat (liquid) into a more solid fat (eg. Using palm oil to add to regular oil to solidify it). While Modified fats are likely better then trans fat, it is still not a great choice.

The Bottom Line: Trans fat should be limited/avoided in the diet to reduce your risk of heart disease. Try to stick to fresh foods (fruits, vegetables, low fat dairy, lean meats/fish/poultry/legumes and whole grains) as the majority of your diet, and when having packaged foods, read the label and ingredients to ensure you are consuming top notch quality in your food and are limiting your trans fat intake.
By Sinead Feeney, RD