Originally published July 21 2005
Many crackers found to contain unhealthy trans fats
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
Crackers are perceived as a fairly innocuous snack food, but WRAL reports that testers have found some crackers contain unhealthy trans fats, and the way to tell the difference is to look for crackers that are labeled as having no trans fat or partially hydrogenated oils in them.
Testers found some crackers have trans fat in them.
"Trans fat is of great concern because it not only elevates the bad cholesterol, the LDL, but it also lowers HDL cholesterol, which is the good cholesterol," said Dr. Marvin M. Lipman, of Consumer Reports.
Consumer Reports' tests found the crackers contain from a half-gram to two-and-a-half grams of trans fat per ounce.
Some cracker boxes do say "zero grams of trans fat," but if the box does not tell you, you have to do some detective work.
"The way to tell is to look at the ingredient line and see if it lists "partially hydrogenated vegetable oil."
If it does, you know there's at least some trans fat," said Linda Greene of Consumer Reports.
Consumer Reports said that along with trans fat, you should pay attention to the total fat in crackers.
Ritz crackers contain close to a gram of fat per cracker as well as Keebler Townhouse Originals.
"The best choices in crackers are those that are lower in calories and fat and the crackers should contain no trans fat and no saturated fat," Greene said.
Consumer Reports said some good choices are Wasa Multi-Grain Crispbread, Kashi TLC Original Seven Grain and Low Fat Whole Wheat crackers from Health Valley.
Starting next year, many foods, including crackers, will have to list how much trans fat they contain.
Consumer Reports said another health concern with crackers is the amount of salt some of them contain.
Both Wasa Multi-Grain Crispbread and Kashi TLC Original are fairly low in sodium.
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