The American Journal of Epidemiology has just released a study, conducted over 7 years, that shows a link between breast cancer and the consumption of what is commonly known as trans-fat:

“A high serum level of transmonounsaturated fatty acids, presumably reflecting a high intake of industrially processed foods, is probably one factor contributing to increased risk of invasive breast cancer in women.”

Transfat is created naturally in the rumen of cows and sheep, so meat products and dairy foods contain trans-fat in small amounts. However trans-fat is also created by combining a vegetable oil with hydrogen under high pressure. Manufacturers love this hydrogenated oil because it keeps things crispy.
Australian manufacturers are not required to label the amount of trans-fat on their products, hopefully this will change in the future. Denmark has moved to banish trans-fat from all products, and many other European countries are following suit. The US has introduced measures requiring products to be labelled with the percentages of trans-fat and Canada is moving to ban trans-fat from all products.

How can you avoid trans-fat? Look out for these products: cakes, cookies, crackers, pies, bread, animal products, margarine, fried take-away foods (check the oil that is being used), potato chips, corn chips, popcorn

This entry was posted on Sunday, June 15th, 2008 at 12:03 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.