Earlier this week, we had hamburgers for dinner. I had mine sans bun and with cheese and sautéed mushrooms on top. It was quite yummy. However, as we were preparing them, my husband began to sprinkle the usual McCormick’s Montreal Steak seasoning on top. He turned to me and asked if I could have some or if it didn’t meet my new rigorous eating guidelines. I said I didn’t know why not since it was just spices, but I took the container and looked at the ingredients just to be sure.
Imagine my surprise to see partially hydrogenated soybean oil listed above natural flavors and extractives of paprika on the ingredients. The small asterisks next to the oil led me to a note which said “adds an insignificant amount of trans fat.’
Now I can only imagine why oil is included in a spice rub – perhaps to keep the salt and spices from sticking or maybe just to extend the shelf life. Regardless, it would never have occurred to me that trans fats would be found in this innocuous bottle sitting on the pantry shelf.
While the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) does not require trans fat less than 0.5 grams per serving to be listed on nutrition labels, this has caused some controversy among health-conscious folks and organizations. The American Heart Association suggests limiting trans fats to no more than 1% of your daily calories, which for most people would be 2-2.5 grams a day. Since small amounts of naturally occurring trans fats can be found in meat, milk, pomegranates, cabbage and peas, there is little room left over to have the .5 grams that may be lurking undeclared in packaged food.
Imagine my surprise to see partially hydrogenated soybean oil listed above natural flavors and extractives of paprika on the ingredients. The small asterisks next to the oil led me to a note which said “adds an insignificant amount of trans fat.’
Now I can only imagine why oil is included in a spice rub – perhaps to keep the salt and spices from sticking or maybe just to extend the shelf life. Regardless, it would never have occurred to me that trans fats would be found in this innocuous bottle sitting on the pantry shelf.
While the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) does not require trans fat less than 0.5 grams per serving to be listed on nutrition labels, this has caused some controversy among health-conscious folks and organizations. The American Heart Association suggests limiting trans fats to no more than 1% of your daily calories, which for most people would be 2-2.5 grams a day. Since small amounts of naturally occurring trans fats can be found in meat, milk, pomegranates, cabbage and peas, there is little room left over to have the .5 grams that may be lurking undeclared in packaged food.
So although I didn’t specifically rule out partially hydrogenated oils and trans fats as part of my eating criteria, I skipped the Montreal Steak Seasoning and stuck with good old-fashioned salt and pepper for my burgers, thankyouverymuch.
1 comments:
Wow, this is so awesome for you! We are trying to cut out as much non-natural stuff as we can, but can't make the same commitment you have just yet. Good luck to you! I now make our bread, it is a challenge but a rewarding one too. Our goal this year is to give up fast food. Sometimes I wonder what in the world were we thinking, lol.
Hope you are all feeling better. Make up a big pot of chicken noodle or rice soup and freeze it for the next time the sickies visit. I'm very grateful that I did that this year.
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