Tastes Great! Less Filling Life!

According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (a wet blanket if ever there was one), Americans eat far too much of the super-deadly Trans-Fat. Although Trans-Fat has yet to be assigned a Daily Value, you can rest assure I’ve exceeded that amount by eight a.m. What, you don’t eat Pop-Tarts and Oreos for breakfast? What kind of health nut are you?

As Lisa Ryckman of Scripps Howard News Service described it, Trans Fat is the “Voldemort of the fat world”. It’s been called “metabolic poison” by Walter Willett, professor of the Harvard School of Public Health. An estimated 100,000 deaths a year are attributed to hidden Trans Fats. A National Academy of Sciences panel concluded the only safe intake of Trans Fat is zero.
So where is it lurking? Just in everything that ever made you want to take a second helping.

From the FDA website:

Trans fat can be found in vegetable shortenings, some margarines, crackers,
candies, cookies, snack foods, fried foods, baked goods, and other processed
foods made with partially hydrogenated vegetable oils. Small amounts of
naturally occurring trans fat can be found in some animal products, such as
butter, milk products, cheese, beef, and lamb.

Public Enemy Number One? McDonald’s French fries. Why doesn’t Billy Graham just come out and denounce those fries as the work of Satan? They’ve been blamed for absolutely everything except 9/11, which we all know was Saddam Hussein’s fault. Bet he force-fed dissidents Little Debbie Snack Cakes.

Although new food labeling guidelines are a step in the right direction, amounts of half a gram or less get the designation 0 grams of trans fat, and restaurants are not required to reveal the use of trans fats. McDonald’s has been notoriously deceptive in revealing what exactly is IN those fries, so don’t expect any movement there. Heroin would be my guess.

Anyhoo, please take this little quiz.

Count how many of the following products you consumed this week:

Veal
Beef
Butter
Milk
Pepperoni
Bacon
French Fries
Cheese
Lamb
Oreos
Twinkies
Steak
Velveeta
Margarine
Triscuit
Crackers

Score:
0-2 Might Live to See Your Next Birthday
3-5 Health Insurance is a Must
6-9 Nice Knowing You
9+ Want to Come Over to My House For Dinner? Bring the Crisco!