Group: General Fitness & Exercise

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Various general exercise related discussions. Find out what it takes to reach your fitness goals through daily effective exercise. With so many options we try to find out what works best.

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Are my doritos healthy?

froshman
froshman
Posts: 441
Joined: 2003/07/12
United States
2003/08/22, 10:00 PM
I was reading the ingredients label on the back of a bag of baked Doritos. One of the contents was partially hydrogenated oil, which is something I tend to steer clear of. However, on the nutrition label, it advertises that there is NO Trans fat, only 3.5 grams of total fat, only .5 grams of which is saturated, which I then assume means that the other three grams must be mono or polyunsaturated fats, which are healthy, right? So, are these Doritos a healthful snack? Even with the hydrogentated oil?
rev8ball
rev8ball
Posts: 3,081
Joined: 2001/12/27
United States
2003/08/22, 10:30 PM
Impossible. If it lists ANY hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oils in the ingredients, it contains Trans-fatty acids. They are the same.

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Michael

Trample the weak; hurdle the dead!
Chaos, Panic, Disorder.... Yes, my work here is done!
froshman
froshman
Posts: 441
Joined: 2003/07/12
United States
2003/08/22, 10:35 PM
Tell that to Doritos.
Carivan
Carivan
Posts: 8,542
Joined: 2002/01/20
Canada
2003/08/22, 10:58 PM
By the year 2005 all packaging will have to list the TFA content.
In any case, I'd steer clear of those type of snack foods.

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You can walk to anywhere you want, it only takes time.

Ivan Montreal Canada (aka SpongeBob Square Pants to some!)
timbaland
timbaland
Posts: 192
Joined: 2002/12/23
United States
2003/08/23, 03:33 AM
It lists 3.5 grams of fat and 0.5 grams of saturated fat right. From your post I guess it doesn't list unsaturated fat at all. On the news they said to tell how much transfat is in a food take the total fat and subtract the number of fat that it lists. I stopped eating microwavable popcorn because it has a lot of transfat in it.
froshman
froshman
Posts: 441
Joined: 2003/07/12
United States
2003/08/23, 02:09 PM
They list trans fat as 0 grams. It's part of their marketing promotion- that these chips don't contain trans fat. That's why I ask, if there's partially hydrogenated oil how is there no trans fat? Certainly they wouldn't false advertise.
rev8ball
rev8ball
Posts: 3,081
Joined: 2001/12/27
United States
2003/08/23, 02:47 PM


============
Quoting from froshman:

Tell that to Doritos.
=============

Okay, I did. And the following is directly off their web-site:

"Trans fats are formed when liquid vegetable oils are processed into solids, like margarine and shortening. Sources of trans fats in the diet include snack foods and baked goods made with 'partially hydrongenated' vegetable oil or 'vegetble shortening'... Any time you see the words 'partially hydrodenated' on the ingredients on a food label you know that the food contains some trans fats. Foods that are prepared using shortenings, margarines and are deep-fried often contain trans fats."

What they may be doing is what many companies do on nutrition labels regarding minimum amounts. When it comes to labels, manufacturers are allowed by the FDA to make certain label claims even with certain amounts of product still present, i.e., a product can claim on it's label, legally, to be "fat free" even if it has fat in it, so long as it has half of gram or less of fat in it per serving. So, without knowing exactly what the new FDA law requires of companies (and it's not in full effect yet), what Frito-Lays may be doing is, even though it may have half a gram of TFA in it, it can still claim "TFA Free" in its marketing.

Best thing to do: stay away from them.

--------------
Michael

Trample the weak; hurdle the dead!
Chaos, Panic, Disorder.... Yes, my work here is done!
timbaland
timbaland
Posts: 192
Joined: 2002/12/23
United States
2003/08/24, 05:57 AM
Damn, thats very sneaky. Thankfully I heard some groups are trying to file a lawsuit against the food manufacturers for misleading much like what was done to tobacco companies.
froshman
froshman
Posts: 441
Joined: 2003/07/12
United States
2003/08/24, 03:53 PM
Damn them. Thanks.
froshman
froshman
Posts: 441
Joined: 2003/07/12
United States
2003/08/24, 03:55 PM
What else has trans fat? Cheese? Also, how can you emulsify the trans fat? Exercise? Olive oil?
inv3rt
inv3rt
Posts: 67
Joined: 2003/07/28
United States
2003/08/25, 02:29 PM
Here's the story, almost completely stolen from a huge article in the September 2003 "Men's Health".

Trans Fat is what makes up that yummy cream filling in the middle of oreos. crisco, Margarine, cheese wiz... and TONS of other things have what's known as Hydrogenated or Partially Hydrogenated Oil.

It all started back in the 50s, when companies were in a rush to get Saturated Fat off their labels. They replaced it with this new Trans Fat, which stayed solid at room temperature (like crisco). Everyone loved it. You could transport it and have no fear of leaking. cookies would HOLD THE FAT INSIDE because it stayed solid at room temperature!

NOW Companies are scared that we may actually find how many trans fats are in our food.

The FDA had been pressured for a long time to keep Trans Fat off labels, as it would scare away the consumers. NOW the FDA has pushed through laws saying they must show how much Trans Fat is in the products. It wont show up for years though, as the companies were afraid of losing all their business.

Why is it bad? Well, the studies show if you consume, oh... say... 7 grams of trans fat daily, (about what comes in a large fry from McDonalds), you're 50% more likely to get Heart Disease. It also increases the risks of diabetes and cancer. It eats away our muscle, it increases the ammount of LDL cholesterol, and decreases the ammount of HDL. (LDL is the bad cholesterol)

Here's a short list of common foods we eat that have Trans Fat in them:

(All in grams of Trans fat)

Chicken Pot Pie - 8
2 Buscuits - 8
Large Fry - 7
Cinnamon roll - 6
6 fish sticks - 6
Nachos with cheese - 5
1 Tbsp of Margarine - 5
6 Oreos - 4
1 Waffle - 4
9 Tater tots - 4
Small popcorn - 3 1/2
1 slice of apple pie - 3
1 Pack of cheese and cracker sandwiches - 3
2 homemade chocolate chip cookies - 3
5 chicken tenders - 2 1/2
1 brownie - 2 1/2
1 jelly donut - 2
1 cup of chex mix - 2