AVOID FOOD PRODUCTS RICH IN TRANS FATS: PAU SCIENTISTS

LUDHIANA, JUNE 28:-----



Advising the farmers and the general public to avoid food products rich in "trans fats," PAU scientists of the Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics (PBG), cautioned that trans fats are non-essential, have no health benefits and human body has no mechanism to eliminate them. Dr Manjit Singh Gill, Head PBG, said that besides some fats, especially, hydrogenated fats (vanaspati) and fats of animal origin also containing trans fatty acids (trans fats), trans fats are also produced by heating of oils and during frying.



Telling that maximum trans fats are present in vanaspati followed by ghee and butter, Dr A.K. Atwal, the varsity scientist, referred to other food sources of trans fats which are commercial foods such as popcorn, french fries, baked goods, pizza, margarines and shortenings and snack foods from some fast food chains. "The World Health Organization (WHO) has recommended that to be healthy, not more the 1% of the daily calories should come from trans fats, and everybody should consume less than 10% calories from saturated fats. Safe level is zero per cent trans fats," added Dr Atwal.



Mentioning about the precautions to reduce fats, Dr M.K. Sangha asked the farmers and the public at large to follow the safety measures. The scientist advised to trim visible fat from meat products. Suggesting to avoid fats high in trans fats, Dr Sangha said that while most of the oils that are partially hydrogenated-canola, soybean, etc., will contain trans fats; whereas plain, non-hydrogenated soybean and other oils used for salad dressing and mayonnaise do not contain any trans fats. Most margarine products currently available in the market place, especially, tub and squeeze/liquids contain zero gram of trans fats and as a rule, the softer the margarine product, the fewer trans fatty acids it contains.



Providing beneficial tips, Dr Shashi Banga told to minimize commercial packaged foods which are high in trans fats and stressed on reading the labels to look for trans fat free alternatives. Many food manufacturers have been working to reduce the amount of trans fatty acids in popular products by exploring new technologies and /or using soybean oil with improved fatty acid profiles for enhanced stability. As a result, a variety of cookies, crackers, potato chips, energy bars, popcorn and other snack foods now contain low/zero grams of trans fat for sensible snacking, informed she.


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