Did you know these foods contain trans fat?
May 20, 2008 – 11:55 am
After looking through a whole lot of ingredients, I have put together a list of 10 very common foods that all contain trans fat even though their labels say they don’t.
How is that possible, you ask? Well, as I’ve mention before (and mention again in the intro of this list), the FDA’s trans fat labeling guidelines are… idiotic. Seriously. That’s how it’s possible for a food to contain trans fat despite the fact that its label says it doesn’t.
To learn the full details of these guidelines and see which foods make the list, check out…
10 Surprising Foods That Contain Trans Fat
Know of any similar foods? Let me know in the comments and I’ll gladly add them to this list.
13 Responses to “Did you know these foods contain trans fat?”
Don’t forget Doritos and several other Frito-lay snacks. “Partially hydrogenated soybean oil” is right there on the label – even though Frito-lay states in press releases and their website that, as of 2003, they have completely eliminated trans-fats from there products.
By sparx on May 20, 2008
Hey there, this is more of a question than a comment. Recently I’ve noticed that bread (most kinds) have a no trans fat label slapped on them. Now, I couldn’t understand why, I didn’t think it was possible for regular bread(not that chocolate chip, strawberry swirl kind) to contain transfat. The Bread I buy didn’t contain any ‘Subtle Markings’ in the ingredients tho; (Bonjour Multi-Grain).
But seriously can regular wholemeal/white/frenchloaf contain Trans Fat??
By Suhanthi on May 21, 2008
I shop at Trader Joes, Henry’s and Mother’s. Do these places have foods that have trans fats? Does organic foods have trans fats?
By Jamie Friedlander on May 21, 2008
sparx: I must say, I have some extra special love for the products that do this AFTER making a huge deal about going “trans fat free.” Good ones.
Suhanthi: Yup, they definitely can. In fact, the original #1 on this list of mine was going to be whole wheat bread. I was basing this on the fact that when I was looking for a new brand to eat (for myself) about 2 years ago, about 75% of the breads I checked did indeed contain trans fat. However, as of this week (which was when I made this list), none of those breads contained trans fat anymore. I’m not sure how long ago they stopped, but it had to have been sometime within the last year or 2 since I know for sure they all did at one point. I’m sure you can probably find a few bread brands that still do, but of the big name brands I researched for this list, none did anymore.
Jamie: Technically any food that is organic will not contain any trans fat (with the exception of the certain meat and dairy products that naturally contain small amounts of it). But, having not been in any of those stores recently, I couldn’t tell you if everything was completely trans fat free. It all certainly should be though, and I’d assume at least most probably is.
By aCalorieCounter on May 22, 2008
I do know all the Bread Crumbs and Coating For Chicken and Pork have it in there . Croutons too . I make my Own .
I have looked in the organic foods and Some Do have Trans Fat . Plus they are high in salt .
Thanks So much for This Site that Is Just Full of Great Inforamtion !!!
Judy
By Judy on May 27, 2008
Some Of The Puddings Instant and reg Have Trans Fat Too .
Judy
By Judy on May 27, 2008
Peanut butter. The fat from peanuts are good for you. It’s one of my favorite foods. Kids love it too… some eat a PPJ sandwich every day. I was always confused that the nutrition label said “TRANS FATS 0″, yet the ingredients label says “…PARTIALLY HYDROGENATED VEGETABLE OIL (SOYBEAN), FULLY HYDROGENATED VEGETABLE OILS…”. As your article confirms, that tells me that it does in fact contain Trans Fat!
They need to fix these labels. It’s very misleading.
Love the new web site. Always great info here…thanks!
By Anthony on Jun 2, 2008
I would like you to check out toll House Cookies the mini ones. You cut them up and bake them. I bought these, yes today reading that it said like you said, 0g Trans Fat. I said good, I can bake these and bring them to work. As I was looking at the calorie content I said okay.then I read the ingredients and it says, Hydrogenated Cottnsee Oil. Well isn’t that a trans fat? it has the word hydrogenated in it?
By tytbody on Jun 2, 2008
There’s some evidence that indicates conjugated linoleic acid, a trans fat, is beneficial in some quantitites. A google search for “good trans fat” will bring up some articles about it. These occur naturally in animals and are found in some meat and dairy products.
Trans fats in processed foods like the ones mentioned in this article, however, are indeed bad for you. If they come from partially hydrogenated oils, that’s a problem. If you see *fully* hydrogenated oils on the list of ingredients, the trans fat should be eliminated.
By Devil's Advocate on Jun 13, 2008
My son and his wife shop regularly at Chinese markets in the Bay Area. Cookies and crackers manufactured in China are regular parts of their childrens’ diet. Do foods manufactured in China contain trans fats, and if so, are they listed on the labels in Chinese, and if so, can the labels be trusted?
Jo
By Jo on Oct 24, 2008
Great page. You may want to consider including Triscuits. Interestingly the fine print on this page: http://www.nabiscoworld.com/Brands/ProductInformation.aspx?BrandKey=TRISCUIT&Site=1&Product=4400000367
mentions that because the product contains < 0.5 gms per serving the FDA REQUIRES them to list 0 trans fat. Poor Nabisco, they’re just doing as they’re told I suppose.
QUOTE: “Where a product contains less than 0.5 grams of trans fat per serving, the FDA requires that the content be listed in the package’s Nutrition Facts box as “0g”. We use that same definition of “0g” on this website.”
Honestly though I think if you put Triscuits on your site it just may jolt them into coming up with a trans-fat free version, if that is possible. Though I guess once having gone through your “10 surprising” foods list I am no longer surprised that Triscuits would be up there along with Ritz and other crackers …
By Aravinda on Mar 2, 2009
Totino’s Pizza Rolls, cake icing (I believe the one I sadly bought and ate is Duncan Hines), and Totino’s Party Pizza. That last one is small and intended for kids. I decided to have a slice of my five-year-old nephew’s when I noticed that it wasn’t packed with fats as I had thought, and as it had been when I was a kid. But, behold, a significant amount of trans fat – something like either two or four grams per serving. How is this even released to the public? How is this not banned throughout the entire country’s restaurants and grocery supplies?
By Kaitlin on Jun 23, 2009
Regular M&M’s, caramel creams, turkey hill no fat chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream, oreos, tootsie rolls.
By Timothy Jones on Aug 4, 2009