Fats and Deceptive Food Labels
If you’ve been to our Fitness Through Empowerment Seminar then you know that there is a lot of hidden information in the Nutritional Information Label required on food packaging. Many of the most glaring misconceptions involve fat. It is important to understand the rules governing the claims food producers can make and to become a detective to find out exactly what you are putting into your body.
Fat has gotten a bad rap. It is an essential part of our diet. Fat is needed in the body to supply energy. With 9 calories per gram, it is the most energy dense macronutrient. Fat is also needed to promote absorption of the fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K.
That said, most Americans eat too much fat with much of this fat being saturated. A diet like this can lead to high cholesterol, heart disease and obesity. However, with a bit of education and a bit of vigilance on your part, you can drastically reduce the amount of fat in your diet.
The Guidelines
Food manufacturers are now required to list saturated and trans fats separately on the food label. The problem with the new FDA regulation requiring trans fat inclusion on the Nutrition Label is that the regulation allows trans fat levels of less than 0.5 grams per serving to be labeled as 0 grams per serving. You can easily consume many grams of trans fat in a day by eating a few servings of what you believe to be “trans fat free” foods.
How do you know? If you look at the ingredients and see “partially hydrogenated” then you are consuming trans fats. Trans fats are the result of the hydrogenation process which makes an otherwise healthy fat solid at room temperature to increase shelf life. Trans fats are found in products like Crisco shortening, prefried foods along with packaged cookies and cakes.
Fat Free
Fat Free food claims were our first introduction into the deceptive world of food labeling. Our favorite example is Pam cooking spray which very blatantly on its label proclaims “For Fat Free Cooking”. However, if you think about it (and read the ingredient list) you will realize that Pam is oil. Canola oil to be exact which is a very good oil. Oil is fat so how can canola oil be fat free? Most people guess that it has something to do with the air that is in the can. As if the air can magically remove calories. The fact is that Pam can claim to be fat free because the FDA rules say that a product can claim to be fat free if it has less than 0.5g of fat per serving. The manufacturers of Pam have adjusted their serving size to 0.266g clearly less than 0.5g. 0.266 g or 1/3 second spray. I defy anyone to coat a sauté pan with Pam in 1/3 of a second. Pam is fine but it is oil and 100% of its calories come from fat so just be aware of what you are eating and don’t soak the sauté pan with Pam thinking it’s fat free.
% fat
The other food labeling claim relating to fat that is oft misunderstand relates to % fat free as seen in ground meat. A serving of 97% fat free ground turkey gets more than half its calories from fat. A serving of 2% milk gets more than 1/3 of its calories from fat. How is this possible? The % fat claim is related to volume not calories so the ground turkey only gets 3% of its volume from fat, but more than half its calories. Again, just be aware of what the food claims mean and read the labels to determine what you are really getting.
So where should I get my fat?
As stated above, fat is an essential part of your diet but should not be more than 30% of your total calories with almost all of those calories coming from healthy fat sources. Healthy fats include monounsaturated fats like olive oil, and naturally occurring fats like those found in nuts.
Also be sure to include an adequate amount of essential fatty acids. Essential fatty acids are fats the body can not produce that are needed for processes in the body. These are the Omega-3 and Omega-6 fatty acids that you have heard a lot about. These should come from your nutrition program and not from a pill. They can be found in many seeds, nuts and oils, fish, poultry and egg yolks. Fish with high amounts of Omega-3 fatty acids include salmon, albacore, tuna, mackerel, sardines, herring and rainbow trout. If you can not get an adequate amount of essential fatty acids through your diet then consider supplementing with a teaspoon of flax seed oil once a day. Flax seed oil contains both Omega-3 and Omega-6 fatty acids and can be mixed into your yogurt or oatmeal. Please note flax seed oil is not for cooking and flax seeds must be ground to emit the oil or they just serve as fiber.
Utilizing these guidelines and becoming more aware of the information found on the Nutritional Food Label should help you to reduce the amount of unhealthy fat in your diet and improve your overall health.
