A nasty trans fat (called elaidic acid) is produced when vegetable oils are partially hydrogenated. It turns the oil into a solid fat, increases its shelf life and produces a crisp texture in chips, snacks, pastries and anything fried in it. It also sends ‘bad’ LDL blood cholesterol levels soaring, reduces ‘good’ HDL cholesterol and has adverse effects on a few other cardiovascular risk factors.

Margarines were once the major source of trans fat, but after much lobbying from nutritionists, Australian companies adopted a different process for their major brands and most now contain less than 1% trans. Sadly, it’s still found in some of the cheaper brands.

Our food authority, Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) is quite relaxed about trans fat. On the basis of some idealistic modelling of what they consider Australians eat, FSANZ has decided that average consumption is less than 1% of energy intake and therefore food labels need not declare trans fat content unless there are claims about unsaturated fats or cholesterol. This restricts mandatory labelling largely to margarines.

The ‘average consumption’ argument reminds me of the non-swimmer who drowned crossing a river having been told it was safe as the average depth was only 1 metre. The average intake of trans fats in the United States, where it’s still in most margarines, is 6g a day. That’s way too high, but those who enjoy chips, croissants, chicken nuggets, apple pies and other high trans items take in about 36g of trans fat per day.

Food industry figures reveal that some frying fats contain a massive 39% trans fat. FSANZ appears to ignore these! Choice tested trans fat in 55 products and found that the trans fat in a large hamburger and French fries from one fast food chain was 22.5% of its hefty fat content. Pies were not far behind and sausage rolls, croissants, chips, quiche, nuggets, some crackers, pastry cases, bagel crisps and chocolate spread all had levels that would make them illegal for sale in Denmark, where they take trans fat seriously.

The US Institute of Medicine has declared there is no safe level of industrially-produced trans fat and the US Food and Drug Administration has introduced compulsory labelling of trans fat. This has led many companies to change the fats they use so they can trumpet ‘no trans’ on the label. Some states in the US have banned the use of commercial frying oils containing trans fats.

Australia lags seriously behind. Hopefully, the new federal government will be less influenced by the powerful food industry and will insist that food labels declare the trans fat content. Once that happens, you can be sure levels will fall.

In the meantime, the best way to ensure you don’t have ‘trans fat with that’ is to cook your own fresh food and use liquid oils.