Peggy Sullivan > wrote in message >...
> Leila A. wrote:
>
> > The other week hubby bought peanut butter at the Stupidmarket, rather
> > than at the natural foods place I go to that grinds it fresh. After
> > the kids had been eating it for a day or two I thought to check the
> > label. The rule of thumb is, subtract Saturated Fats from Total Fats
> > on the label to get the trans fats (although wouldn't the
> > polyunsaturated fats that are fine also be in there?). The peanut
> > butter said something like 16 g per serving fat, 3 g. saturated fat,
> > so that left 13 grams PER SERVING of unsaturated fats, many of which
> > are hydrogenated.
> >
> > I threw the jar out.
> >
> [snip]
> >
> > Leila
> > (ducking for cover)
>
> I'm wondering about your calculations. I don't think that
> total fats - saturated fats is equal to trans fats. I think the
> peanut oil in the peanuts is unsaturated and makes up almost all
> of the total fat - saturated fat number you computed.
>
> The Skippy web page: http://www.peanutbutter.com/faq.asp
> referenced previously in this thread states:
>
> "Does Skippy peanut butter contain trans fats?
> By U.S. FDA definition, Skippy peanut butter is a trans-fat free food.
>
> Most commercial peanut butters contain small amounts (typically less than
> 2%) of a partially hydrogenated fat, which prevents oil separation by
> helping the peanut butter "set up" a fat structure. This partially
> hydrogenated fat is almost totally saturated and contains only an
> insignificant trace amount of trans fats. "
>
Thanks for doing such good research.

However, I wonder how they can say that the partially hydrogenated fat
is "almost totally saturated" and therefore "contains only an
insignificant trace amount of trans fats. "

What I understand is that partially hydrogenated fat is just not good
for you and I avoid it.

I agree that a small amount is not horrible. I don't believe Skippy's
numbers, however.

I'm hoping a better informed person (our in-house nutritionist?
Cindy?) will weigh in on this. Can a partially hydrogenated fat have
"no trans fat"???? Or are the food companies lying because they can?

The label on the supermarket brand PB my husband bought listed, in
this order: Peanuts, dextrose, hydrogenated vegetable oil, (then a
list of other stuff).

It's entirely possible that I overreacted by throwing out that jar.
OTOH, it cost about 3 bucks, maybe.

> I looked for the US FDA definition of trans-fat free and found a page
> about the proposed trans fat labeling rules:
> http://vm.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/qatrans2.html
> which states in part:
>
> "Q: Is it possible for a food product to list the amount of trans fat as
> 0 g on the Nutrition Facts panel if the ingredient list indicates that
> it contains "partially hydrogenated vegetable oil?
>
> A: Yes. Food manufacturers are allowed to list amounts of trans fat with
> less than 0.5 gram (1/2 g) as 0 (zero) on the Nutrition Facts panel. As
> a result, consumers may see a few products that list 0 gram trans fat on
> the label, while the ingredient list will have "shortening," "partially
> hydrogenated vegetable oil," or "hydrogenated vegetable oil" on it. This
> means the food contains very small amounts (less than 0.5 g) of trans fat
> per serving."
>
> So my guess is that Skippy has less than 1/2 g of trans fat per serving.
> I can't believe other big brand name peanut butters are that different.
>
> It might be good to avoid even small amounts, but I think that your idea
> that each serving of your peanut butter contained many grams of trans fats
> is way off. I think commercial cookies, crackers, donuts, fried foods and
> margarines are all much more significant sources of trans fats than peanut
> butter in the average american diet.
>

You are probably right about that, Peggy. And we are therefore mostly
not eating same (although we're not totally strict about it)

Thanks for challenging this. I am not absolutely certain of the truth
on this one. Your research is impressive.

Leila

Yes, Ruth, it's me!!! I do lurk here at times