Trans fatty acids are found in all hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated vegetable oils, including margarine and shortening. Partially hydrogenated soybean oil is our most common source of trans fatty acids.
Almost every packaged, convenience food in the grocery store contains one or more of these sources of trans fats. Some common food sources for trans fatty acids include bread, cookies, crackers, chips, pies, french fries, pizzas, peanut butter, cake frosting, candy, and ice cream. Read package labels, if it lists partially hydrogenated oil, don’t buy it!
“Trans fats caused an estimate of 30,000 deaths annually in the US from heart disease.[14]”
In the 1890s, Nobel laureate Paul Sabatier developed the chemistry of hydrogenation.
1901 – the German chemist Wilhelm Normann showed that liquid oils could be hydrogenated, and patented the process in 1902.[6][7][8]
1909 – Procter & Gamble acquired the US rights to the Normann patent;[10]
1911– Procter & Gamble began marketing the first hydrogenated shortening, Crisco (composed largely of partially hydrogenated cottonseed oil). Further success came from the marketing technique of giving away free cookbooks in which every recipe called for Crisco.
1920 – Hydrogenated fat such as Crisco and Spry, sold in England, began to replace lard in the baking of bread, pies, cookies, and cakes.[15]
1975 – A group of scientists led by Mr Leo Thomas at what is now the University of Glamorgan in South Wales suspected that eating partially hydrogenated fats had a connection with death from coronary heart disease.
1994 – It was estimated that trans fats caused 30,000 deaths annually in the US from heart disease.[14]
2003 – Denmark became the first country to introduce laws to control the sale of foods containing trans-fats. In the same year Canada required that the presence of trans-fats be shown on food labels and in the following year the Canadian government essentially banned the use of trans-fats in food altogether.
2006 – It became law in the US that the content of trans-fats has to be specifically listed on food labels. December of the same year New York City’s Board of Health banned many trans-fats from the city’s restaurants, prompting similar moves in Philadelphia, Montgomery County in Maryland, and the Boston suburb of Brooklyn.
July 2008 – California became the first state in the U.S. to ban trans fats from restaurant food, following several cities and major fast-food chains in erasing the notorious artery-clogger from menus.
References:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trans_fat#History
http://www.jctonic.com/include/healingcrisis/12Hydrogenatedoil.htm
http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/food_matters/transfats.shtml
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/07/25/california-becomes-first_n_115081.html
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