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Tuesday, March 3, 2015

Mailbag: Fractionated vs hydrogenated oils

"Fractionated oils are different.  The term comes from the fact that most edible oils contain a mixture of saturated and unsaturated fats, a ‘fraction’ of each.  The more saturated a fat an oil contains, the more solid that oil becomes, and the higher its melting point, and vice-versa. Fractionation can make an oil either more liquid or more solid, by removing either the saturated or the unsaturated fractions.  Since the basic molecular structure of the fats aren’t changing – only their proportions – fractionated oils don’t pose any of the drawbacks specific to hydrogenated oils.

Note: Labeling laws allow a product with any amount less than .5 g of trans-fat to claim zero grams of tran-fat. That’s how and why some product’s have a front label that says “Zero Trans Fat” while the Nutrition Facts panel shows hydrogenated oil."

See entire article @ AllStarHealth