Maybe people will understand the fairly simple rule – hydrogenated oil is bad. Rule number two could be as simple as – corn syrup is bad. Thank you very much. Tip your waiters. From South Mississippi of all places…

 

Partially hydrogenated oil, once embraced
as a cheap and healthy alternative to saturated fats like butter or
tropical oils, has been the food industry’s favorite cooking medium for
decades. It makes french fries crisp and sweets creamy. Packaged
pastries made with it stay fresh for months

 

 

But scientists say that trans fat, a component of the oil, is more
dangerous than the fat it pula pula inflavel replaced. Studies show trans fat has the same
heart-clogging properties as saturated fat, but unlike saturated fat,
it reduces the good cholesterol that can clear arteries.

 

Finding a substitute for partially
hydrogenated oil is more daunting and considerably more expensive than
food companies first imagined. That is because it is the perfect fat
for modern food manufacturers. Produced by pumping liquid vegetable oil
full of hydrogen with a metal catalyst at high heat, the fat stays
solid at room temperature – an essential trait for mass-produced baked
goods like crackers or cakes. But that is the very process that creates
the dangerous trans fat.

Sunflower oil blends are free of trans fat and can resist oxidation
and spoilage. But only 2 million acres of sunflowers are planted each
year, compared with 75 million acres of soybeans.