The
Nutrition Facts panel provides a mandatory listing of the total fat content, saturated fat content, and, as of January 2006, the
trans fat content of food products. Other important types of fats such as polyunsaturated fat and monounsaturated fat may be listed voluntarily. This nutrition information can be a boon for the two-thirds of Americans who, according to an IFIC Foundation consumer survey that was fielded in 2005, are concerned about the amount and type of fats that are in the foods they eat.
However, because there is still a high level of confusion about the types of fatty acids present in foods and their corresponding healthfulness, consumers may not be maximizing the usefulness of the food label as a planning tool for balancing fat intakes. For instance, the 2005 study found that only a third of consumers are clear on the healthfulness of liquid fats (oils and soft margarine) versus solid fats (stick margarine and butter). As an example of consumer confusion, one-third of Americans say they are trying to consume less of the mono- and polyunsaturated fats, which may reduce blood cholesterol levels and thus lower heart disease risk.
Current scientific knowledge indicates that both trans fat and saturated fat increase the risk of heart disease. IFIC Foundation’s 2003 quantitative survey on trans fat labeling found that consumers placed a disproportionate weight on trans fat nutrition information—disregarding important information on other nutrients represented on the food label, including the content of other dietary fats (e.g. saturated fat)—when presented with a Nutrition Facts panel that included a trans fat footnote (e.g., “Intake of trans fat should be as low as possible”). The majority of consumers tended to identify a trans fat-free product as more healthful, even when its saturated fat content was higher than that of the comparative product that contained less trans fat and saturated fat combined.
To better interpret food labels and improve food choices in regard to fat content, consumers need to remember the following rules of thumb:
- All oils contain a mixture of different fatty acids. Most vegetable oils used at home or in packaged or prepared food products contain relatively low levels of saturated fats and relatively higher levels of mono- or polyunsaturated fats. Examples of oils that contain relatively low levels of saturated fats include canola (6 percent), flaxseed (10 percent), soybean (15 percent), and olive (17 percent). Tropical oils contain higher levels of saturated fats—examples are coconut (92 percent), palm (50 percent), and palm kernel (82 percent), solid fats such as butterfat (63 percent) and lard (42 percent) also contain higher levels of saturated fats.
- Consider the combined amount of saturated fat and trans fat. “Consumers should avoid increasing their intake of saturated fat in an effort to minimize trans fat. The two kinds of fats must be considered together,” says Alice Lichtenstein, Chair of the American Heart Association (AHA) Nutrition Committee and Professor at the Friedman School of Nutrition at Tufts University.
| Type of fat/oil | Approximate No. of grams of saturated fat per (1 tbsp)* serving** |
| Canola | 1.0 |
| Flaxseed | 1.3 |
| Olive | 1.9 |
| Soybean | 2.0 |
| Lard | 5.0 |
| Palm | 6.7 |
| Butter | 7.3 |
| Palm kernel | 11.1 |
| Coconut | 11.8 |
| *Approximately 15 grams | |
**Source: National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference—U.S. Department of Agriculture
(http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp/search) |
Bottom Line: Consumers should take advantage of the information provided by the food label that specifies how much of each type of fat and what oils are present in the food. Food scientists are continuing to look for ways to keep trans and saturated fats in foods as low as possible while still retaining the functional properties of these types of fat that make food taste good and allow products to stay fresh longer.
