Health Magazine

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Until it’s listed on labels, though, consumers are blind to the amounts of trans fats in foods they may think of as “healthy.” While it’s no surprise a glazed Dunkin’ Donut has a whopping 4 grams of trans fat (on top of 2.5 grams of saturated fat), this substance also turns up in foods you wouldn’t expect. Snacks like “light” microwave popcorn and seemingly wholesome cracked wheat crackers--even bran cereals.

“Some of the things that masquerade as being healthy, like veggie burgers and high-fiber cereal, can be very high in trans fat,” says Jana Klauer, M.D., a New York physician who specializes in treating obesity. According to a recent study reported by Consumer Reports, a cup of fiber-rich Cracklin Oat Bran cereal contains 1.5 grams of trans fat (plus 2 grams of saturated fat) – as much as a serving (3 cookies) of Nabisco’s Chips Ahoy Real Chocolate Chip cookies. A handful of Wheat Thins has only 1 gram of saturated fat, but 2 more grams of undisclosed trans fat.
Still, some researchers believe that overemphasizing trans fat is a mistake, since it makes up only 2.2 percent of the total intake of calories for the average person, according to Lichtenstein. Saturated fat still remains a far bigger concern to public health officials because we consume so much more of it than we do of trans fats -- comprising on average 12 to 15 percent of calories -- which is well above the recommended of 10 percent and the preferred 7 percent.

Alice H. Lichtenstein,a D.Sc. in Nutritional Biochemistry), a nutrition professor at Tuft’s University, is among those who suggest that trans fat be grouped with saturated fat on food labels with some kind of “bad fat” designation rather than singled out. “You can’t think of a diet in isolation,” Lichtenstein says. “If you start obsessing on one component in isolation, the others can get knocked out of kilter.” In other words, don’t become so obsessed over trans fats that you do things like replace stick margarine with butter, which has less trans fat but much more saturated health. Instead, consider trans fat as one element when looking at your overall fat intake.

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