I’ve just stumbled across choice, the mag produced by the consumer affairs association. I’m not sure how I feel about it, beyond the fact that it’s perfectly suited to generating low level anxiety about rather inconsequential things.*
Perhaps the most upsetting thing I read in this mag was that nutella has so much trans fat it’d be banned in Denmark.
This distresses me because nutella is the one sweety we buy at the supermarket and keep in the house. All other lovely sweeties are bought spontaneously and randomly.
And what is trans fat? Bad. And it’s in manufactured foods. Here, read:
Trans fat is found mainly in deep-fried fast foods and processed foods made with margarine or shortening. It’s created by a process called hydrogenation that’s used by food manufacturers to improve the stability of vegetable oils and to convert liquid oils into the solid fats needed to get the right consistency in foods such as cakes and pastries.
Trans fat is also created naturally by micro-organisms in the rumen (or forestomach) of cows and sheep — so beef, lamb and dairy foods also contain small amounts of trans fat, depending on the overall fat content.Trans fat is bad for your heart. Weight for weight, it’s probably worse for you than the saturated fat that we all know to avoid.
Trans fat increases the level of bad LDL cholesterol in much the same way as saturated fat. And worse, it seems to also lower the concentration of good HDL cholesterol that’s protective against heart disease.
(from this page)
I guess the bottom line is, eat organic fruit and veggies, if you’re going to eat cakes and biscuits, make your own (using butter or olive oil) and don’t eat shitful takeaway food. Not really big news, is it?
*no, don’t be silly. of course i’m not implying that the consumer affairs people are carp. i’s just being picky.
