In order to avoid the harm of artificial trans fatty acids contained in food to human health, the Ministry of Health and Welfare stipulates that from June 65438+July 1 day, 2007 (subject to the production date), partially hydrogenated oil shall not be used in food, that is, trans fats are prohibited in food. Incomplete hydrogenated oil will produce trans fat during processing. The main source of artificial trans fat in many diets is partially hydrogenated oil, which is very harmful to cardiovascular health. Therefore, the Ministry of Health stipulates that the use of trans fats in food is prohibited from July 1. According to research, limiting the intake of artificial trans fatty acids can help reduce the risk of coronary artery disease. The more trans fats you eat, the more "sad"
Trans fats that are harmful to cardiovascular health are hidden in the daily diet! According to a survey conducted by the Ministry of Health and Welfare, 1 person in every three people in Taiwan Province Province has never heard of trans fats. Therefore, when you are enjoying baked goods, cakes, fried foods or drinks made with creamer, it will be even more "sad" to eat carefully!
In the early days, in order to meet the demand of insufficient butter and avoid a large amount of unhealthy saturated fat in animal oil, liquid vegetable oil was partially hydrogenated to make margarine (that is, milk marin), which became a substitute for butter. Pan, a researcher at the Institute of Biomedicine, Chinese Academy of Sciences, said that the partial hydrogenation of vegetable oil will change the molecular structure of fat, making the oil saturation slightly increase, close to that of cream, but the saturation is still lower than that of cream. At that time, academic circles thought it could lower blood cholesterol. Unexpectedly, this artificial process will turn a part of the original cis-unsaturated fat into trans-unsaturated fat.
However, in recent years, a large number of international studies show that trans fats will greatly increase the risk of cardiovascular diseases, even related to infertility, dementia, breast cancer, diabetes and so on. Whey protein or creamer (a kind of hydrogenated vegetable oil with milk flavor) has been used as a substitute for many years, only to find that the trans fat contained in it is more unhealthy than the original saturated fat.
Cake, cream, fried food, hidden trans fat.
Xu, director of the Food Nutrition Group of Dong Shi Foundation, analyzed that trans fats can be produced by natural sources, hydrogenation, refining and repeated frying. Natural trans fats are different from artificial structures and are harmless to human body. All dairy products contain a small amount of natural trans fats, such as milk, goat milk and natural cream.
The hydrogenation process includes complete hydrogenation or partial hydrogenation. In the former process, all unsaturated fats are converted into saturated fats. Finally, although trans fats are not contained, saturated fats are relatively increased. Some hydrogenated oils are commonly found in raw materials such as margarine, ghee and creamer, including cakes and snacks that need to be baked at high temperature, such as souffle, pineapple cake, Melaleuca pie, chocolate bars and egg rolls, as well as milk tea and three-in-one coffee containing creamer.
In addition, although oils and fats such as soybean oil are not hydrogenated, the production process must be "refined at high temperature", and unless refined during processing, some trans fats will be produced; As for oil, as long as it is fried repeatedly, it will depend on the temperature, frequency and degree of frying, resulting in more and more trans fats in fried products. So it is best not to touch fried products such as salty chicken.
Trans fats block blood vessels and increase the risk of cardiovascular disease.
The National Health Service published a survey on people's cognition and eating habits of trans fats, and found that 36% people had never heard of trans fats, let alone understood their health hazards. Even as high as 43% people expect "* * * to stop using trans fats".
The national health department pointed out that foreign studies have confirmed that as long as a small amount of trans fat is ingested every day, it will increase bad cholesterol in the blood, lower good cholesterol, increase triglycerides, cause vascular obstruction and inflammation, and increase the risk of cardiovascular disease by 23%; Another study found that trans fats are associated with infertility, dementia, breast cancer and diabetes.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), if the calories of trans fats, which account for 2% of the total calories, are completely replaced by monounsaturated fats and polyunsaturated fats, the mortality rate of cardiovascular diseases can be reduced by 23%. If the calories from trans fats are reduced by 0.5% in the total calories, the mortality of stroke and coronary heart disease can be reduced by 3% and 6%. According to the statistics of 65,438+00 people who died in China in 2065,438+03 by the Ministry of Health, nearly 65,438+00,000 people died of cardiovascular diseases and more than 2,700 people died of diabetes every year in Taiwan Province Province. Therefore, being alert to trans fats can keep away from the threat of cardiovascular diseases.
Label content of compulsory packaged food
In order to avoid the harm of trans fats to health, Denmark is the first country in the world to ban trans fats. In 2003, it began to completely ban the sale of foods containing more than 2% trans fats from unnatural sources. In April 2008, Swiss legislation restricted the sale of trans-fat foods; Since July 2007, new york City of the United States has comprehensively stipulated that the unnatural trans fat used in each serving of food in restaurants should not exceed 0.5g, while California has banned the use of trans fat in state restaurants since 20 10. Until mid-June, 104, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced that it required food producers to remove some hydrogenated vegetable oils from their products within three years.
Taiwan Province Province also followed the example of Denmark and the United States to ban artificial trans fats. 1 On April 22, 2005, the Ministry of Health issued the "Restrictions on the Use of Edible Hydrogenated Oil", stipulating that from June 65438+July1day, 2007, partially hydrogenated oil shall not be used in food.
Regarding labeling, Li Wanxi, head of the Food Department of the Food and Drug Administration, said that Denmark, the United States, Canada and Taiwan Province provinces are known to have mandatory labeling on trans fat content in packaged foods, while the EU, South Korea and China mainly adopt voluntary labeling.
Since 2008, Taiwan Province Province has made it mandatory to indicate trans fat content in the "nutrition label" column of packaged food. However, in the past, trans fats were labeled only for "non-conjugated trans fats" formed by hydrogenated vegetable oils, and the current inspection methods could not distinguish trans fats formed by natural and refined foods. However, since 104, the Food and Drug Administration has stipulated that all packaged foods should clearly indicate the total amount of trans fats (both natural and artificial). If the fat content in 1 00g solid packaged food or100ml liquid packaged food does not exceed1g and the trans fat content does not exceed 0.3g, it can be marked as "0".
The label "0" is stricter than that in the United States, and it is difficult to block all sources.
Many vegetarian cakes will use refined sugar such as granulated sugar and white sugar, as well as ingredients such as fresh cream, cream, cake powder and artificial additives. Although all trans fats are labeled as "0", it can be seen from fresh cream and cream that cakes contain trans fats, because trans fats are less than 0.3g per 65,438+000 streams without labeling, consumers often mistakenly think that "0" means no trans fats, so they will.
Li Wanxi said that countries that have mandatory labeling of trans fat content in packaged foods have their own conditions for labeling as "0", and the benchmarks in different countries are not the same. For example, the United States mandates that each serving is less than 0.5g, while Denmark stipulates that trans fats are less than 1%, which can be regarded as 0. Although there is no mandatory labeling in South Korea, it also stipulates that trans fat is less than 0.2 per 30 grams. In fact, China's labeling of "0" is stricter than that of the United States and South Korea.
Xu said frankly that there are more cakes and snacks that need high-temperature treatment in Taiwan Province Province than in Europe and America, such as mung bean linden, twins, fried dough sticks and souffles, all of which use ghee, white oil, margarine and butter. If the ban is imposed, the impact will be quite wide and the impact on the industry will be great. After the ban, food costs will increase relatively; From a health point of view, if trans fats are banned, saturated fats will inevitably increase, but saturated fats are also bad for health.
From a technical point of view, Xu said, it is difficult to completely ban trans fats because there are many sources of trans fats. In addition to nature, partial hydrogenation or refining and repeated frying are all methods.
Cake industry revolution, don't be greedy for "milk fragrance"
"The cake industry in Taiwan Province Province must be revolutionary! Pan takes himself as an example. When she goes to a bakery, she will directly ask the clerk, "What oil is in it? Even asked the store to provide bread and cakes without hydrogenated vegetable oil, often asked colleagues to buy them, and appointed the store to buy walnut toast without margarine.
She pointed out that there is a big problem with cakes, not only trans fats, but also saturated fats. The cakes with full flavor either use butter and palm oil mainly containing saturated fats, or use margarine and ghee containing trans fats to remind people to change their taste for health, not to crave this fragrance and avoid eating bread and cakes that claim to be "milk-flavored".
In addition, Pan stressed that manufacturers should also improve themselves. Many cake packages are marked with "vegetable oil", which makes people mistakenly think that it is healthy, but it is actually "hydrogenated vegetable oil" containing trans fats. Therefore, people should remember to read the label when choosing a cake, and take the initiative to ask whether the store has no label, so as to check its health.
Common foods containing trans fats
1. High temperature baking cake: souffle, pineapple cake, Melaleuca pie, muffin, pastry cheese.
2. Fried food: fried chicken, salted chicken, French fries, doughnuts and potato chips.
3. Drinks using creamer: milk tea and three-in-one coffee.
4. Grease: margarine, ghee, white oil, hardened oil and repeatedly fried grease.