Crisco, what the...?!
 

Ok, so we've all heard about trans fat and how bad they are for you.

I always thought that Crisco was trans fat personified. I was at BJ's today and saw a large tub of Crisco and in huge letters said "0 trans fat per serving". I went... :fr:!

I read the ingredients, fully hydrogenated fat is there, how can they claim no trans fat?! I don't get it, is it the thing with the FDA that if it's less than 1 gm they can claim "0"???

I always thought for sure that Crisco was ALL trans fat. Not that I ever bought or used it, neither do I plan to start using it, but I was shocked that it said that on the label.

Frankly I'm amazed they still allow trans fat to be used commercially for food.

Anyway, just thought I'd share my shock.

the key is the "fully hydrogenated" part. Trans fats are partially hydrogenated. Polyunsaturated fats are the healthiest, saturated (which I believe is the same as fully hydrogenated) are rather unhealthy, but trans fats (partially hydrogenated) are the worst.

Alton Brown explained it on one of his Good Eats episodes, but I don't remember enough of it to explain it. Maybe someone else could explain why transfats are worse than saturated fats.

Here's a read on the differences of hydrogenation.

http://lowfatcooking.about.com/od/fa...drogenated.htm

LLV, thanks for the link. I had no idea that's how it works, I simply thought hydrogenated = trans fat.

I'm glad I know now. I don't usually buy commercially baked goods, but they do manage to make it into my cart once in a great while. I just bought Kashi's oatmeal/choc chip cookies yesterday. Haven't had one yet, I buy those for my parents b/c they have a thing for cookies and when I don't have time to bake them myself, they like to buy at the store.

Thanks again! :)

Weird, I always thought Crisco had trans fats (at least some), you're not alone there!

Saturated fats are called that because the fat molecule is "saturated" with hydrogen atoms... so I guess "fully hydrogenated" is the same thing. I've never even heard that term before... they probably think people will be less grossed out if they don't notice it's a big ol' tub of saturated fat, heh.

Crisco changed thier formula after they started requiring trans fats to be on the label.

I think I've used Crisco once before and never used it again. The consistency and look of it reminded me of lard and it completely grossed me out. I rather use real butter. I usually try to substitute some of the butter in my baking with apple sauce or pumpkin puree or some other mashed fruit. The only time I make an exception is at X-mas time, I bake some mean cookies so butter is a must. I bake them as gifts, so very little remains in the house anyway.

I use organic Palm kernel shortening for any recipe that butter or oil will not work in. Palm has slightly less saturated fat then butter and more polyunsaturated fat. It may not be the best fat out there, but it's certainly better then Crisco in my book.

is coconut oil a good sub for shortening?