Ever heard of Intensified Fats?
Apparently, the industry is getting wise to the fact that consumers are seeking alternatives to trans-fats. They've come up with new language and a slightly different product - Intensified Fats.
from http://www.healthyfastandcheap.com/:
Here is my take on this new development. Food manufacturers are not going to give up the market share of refined polyunsaturate oil, so they are getting around the trans fat labeling by mixing small amounts of fully hydrogenated oil with liquid polyunsaturate oils and calling “interesterified oil.” They claim that fully hydrogenated oil is healthier. Since there is less trans fat, they can sell this product to food manufacturers for use in commercial dressings, baked goods, candies and anything else that used to have partially hydrogenated oil in the ingredient list.
In plain english, interestification means mixing fully hydrogenated oil with liquid polyunsaturate oil to produce a consistency similar to partially hydrogenated oil, which is the source of trans fats. The solution to the trans fat problem; from the manufacturer perspective!
Well, it looks like I am going to have to get used to telling my clients to look for ‘interesterified oil” as well as partially hydrogenated oil in the ingredient list. Of course, no one can ever trust the label regarding trans fat anyway, since the FDA allows .5 grams of trans fat per serving to be labeled “no trans fat.”
from http://www.bantransfats.com/faq.html:
Fully hydrogenated oil does not contain trans fat! Partial hydrogenation is a process that rids an oil of its highly unsaturated fatty acid content and changes anywhere from 5-10 percent to 55 percent or more of the original fatty acids to trans fatty acids and a number of other unnatural fatty acids. Hydrogenation, when carried out in its totality, produces only saturated fatty acids; and a totally saturated oil has the consistency of a wax and is not appropriate for use in food except in very small amounts added with emulsifiers to food products such as peanut butter.
YUM!!!