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Jul 10, 2007 11:59 pm US/Mountain
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Is Trans Fat Free Food Healthier?
by Alan Gionet
DENVER (CBS4) ―
Shopper Ameia Cheatham says she wonders about the claims made by companies making trans fat free foods, "When you're just a consumer and you look at it and you ... go, 'Oh that has less fat and it's this and it's that and it must be really good.'" Buying healthy is important to her, but her budget's tight. "My husband has high cholesterol and I have high cholesterol, so we try to watch what we're doing as far as meat and products that we buy."
Packages scream, "Trans Fat Free!" But does that mean it's healthy? "Read the label, make a choice, but look at total amount of fat in use," said Colorado State University nutritionist Dr. Jennifer Anderson.
We need a certain amount of fat in our diets, but not artery clogging trans fat. "And you're going to see it has zero trans fat," says Anderson, "And they're going to indicate that on the label. But obviously, it's not fat free."
Many times manufacturers have replaced trans fat with saturated fat. "You're going to put them in the same pot. Trans fat and saturated fat all can increase one's blood cholesterol level," said Anderson.
Federal guidelines say between 25 percent and 35 percent of total daily calories should come from fats, but bad fats should make up only a small amount of that. The average American now gets about two percent of calories from trans fat. That doesn't sound like much, but experts say you should get less than one percent.
The American Heart Association says less than seven percent of total calories should come from saturated fat. The average American now gets about 11 percent.
There are some foods that simply need fat of some kind. Anderson said, "Anybody knows a potato chip (has) fat because how are you going to make a potato chip if you don't fry it or bake it? And it's going to have fat. Does it have much nutrient quality? Minimal."
We found products like Smart Balance Spread claiming trans fat free benefits. But it still has saturated fat. We even found pork rinds made by Mission that proclaimed, "Trans Fat Free," on the package. Pork Rinds?
Anderson said we may not be eating healthier, "I'd like to say we are but I think we've got a long way to go. The bottom line is a calorie is a calorie and fat all has nine calories per gram."
She recommends reading the labels and knowing your limits. "It's how we put it all together."
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