Dining keeps trans fat off tables

The war against trans fat has taken over restaurants and grocery stores across the country as the latest battle in Americans' struggle to maintain heart-healthy, obesity-free lives. But what is the truth behind this fat, which has taken over bread and carbs as the new villain on the health block?

Many things in life are two-sided and fat is no exception. While unsaturated fat is a main source of energy for the body and aids in the digestion of many vitamins and carotenoids, saturated fats and trans fats raise harmful low density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol levels in blood and serve as a major contributor to many forms of heart disease and cancer.

In 2003, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a regulation requiring manufacturers to list trans fats on nutrition facts tables. In 2006, many states banned restaurants from using trans fats altogether. As it turns out, studies have shown that the use of trans fat is correlated with elevated risks of getting coronary heart diseases, diabetes, obesity, cancer and infertility.

According to the FDA, trans fat is a type of saturated fat. The majority of trans fat is formed when liquid oils are made into solid fats like shortening and hard margarine; however, a small amount of trans fat is found naturally in animal-based foods like milk. Essentially, trans fat is made when hydrogen is added to vegetable oil.

Before the invention of trans fats, people cooked with lard, palm oil or butter, which are high in saturated fat. When research showed that saturated fat increased the level of LDL cholesterol, manufacturers started using a healthier alternative-vegetable oils. However, according to www.HealthCastle.com, liquid vegetable oils go rancid easily. Scientists began to hydrogenate liquid oils so the food processed with them could have a better shelf life. As a result, trans fat was born.

According to the Health and Diet Center, there is no official recommended daily allowance for trans fats, but the suggested daily limit provided by many doctors is two grams per day. While that may sound like a lot, more than 40 percent of the products in an average supermarket contain trans fats and many restaurants and fast-food chains fry with partially hydrogenated oils.

In addition, the FDA also allows food manufacturers to label any product that has less than 0.5 grams of trans fat per serving as trans-fat- free. So while a package may claim to have "zero trans fat per serving," the customer could still be consuming some trans fat.

According to Tech's Wellness Center, no more than 10 percent of daily dietary fat should come from saturated or trans fat.

"I don't really pay attention to trans fat when I'm choosing what I eat. Given a choice between a trans fat food and an equally delicious alternative sitting right next to it, I'd choose the alternative. Otherwise it wouldn't make a difference," said William Morgan, a second-year Civil Engineering major.

Tech's food provider, Sodexho, announced its conversion to trans-fat-free foods more than a year ago. According to its news release in February, Sodexho's goal is to help their customers' intake of trans fat be as low as possible by replacing the major sources of dietary trans fat with heart-healthy alternatives.

"All the dining places on campus, which include all the dining halls, the Student Center, Jackets and so on, all use Sodexho as the food provider, so we don't use trans fat in the foods," said Tom Shram, the director of operations of Tech Dining Services.

Today, most experts recommend the use of alternatives like olive and sunflower oils to reduce the risk of heart disease, since they contain healthier unsaturated fats.