The origin of the incident: New York banned trans fatty acids

　　 Recently some media (such as Guangzhou Daily) reported that "from July 1st, New York City, the United States banned all food sales places including restaurants, fast food restaurants, and cakes. Stores, etc., using trans fats that affect health, becoming the first city in the United States to ban trans fats." In fact, the events involved in this news can be traced back to 2006, CCTV reported on December 6, 2006, 30 minutes: the United States New York Health Commission passed a bill on the 5th, which will ban the use of all restaurants and cake rooms in New York City. Human-made artificial trans fat makes New York the first city in the United States to ban trans fat in the catering industry. According to the Act, before July 1, 2007, the catering industry must stop using shortening, butter and cooking oil containing trans fatty acids, and stop using all trans fatty acid-containing materials by July 1, 2008.

　　 The U.S. attention to trans fatty acids can be traced back to February 2006, the Health News reported on February 17, 2006, "February 8, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) McDonald''s French fries have launched a new method for testing. The results show that in each large portion of McDonald''s French fries, the content of trans fatty acids has increased from 6 grams to 8 grams in the past, and the overall total fatty acid content has increased from 25 grams to 30 grams. The FDA claims that trans fatty acids can increase the body’s bad cholesterol and increase the risk of heart disease.

　　Definition and source: trans fatty acids (TFA)

　　in fats and oils In the chemical structure, the hydrogen atoms of fatty acids are distributed on the same side of the unsaturated bond, which is called cis fatty acid; on the contrary, the hydrogen atoms are distributed on both sides of the unsaturated bond, which is called trans fatty acid. The vast majority of fatty acids in natural vegetable oils It belongs to cis-fatty acids, and trans-fatty acids are only found in trace amounts in natural foods. How does it appear in daily foods and damage human health?

　　 This can''t help but pay attention to a special fat Processing methods-hydrogenation, vegetable oils are widely used in food processing. Although vegetable oils (mainly unsaturated fatty acids) are significantly better than animal oils (mainly saturated fatty acids) in terms of health benefits, the disadvantages of vegetable oils are that they are easy to process. It is oxidized (has a "hala flavor"), not crispy, and is easily destroyed during frying. To solve these problems, it is usually necessary to "hydrogenate" unsaturated fatty acids, that is, to open the double bond of unsaturated fatty acids and add hydrogen atoms Make it into a single bond, that is, turn unsaturated fatty acids into saturated fatty acids. This hydrogenated oil (mainly saturated fatty acids) has very excellent processing properties, such as the shelf life of instant noodles (or biscuits) if made with ordinary vegetable oils 1 to 3 months, and the shelf life of hydrogenated oil can be up to 3 years; hydrogenated oil can be used to make shortcakes, pastry bread, etc.; hydrogenated oil can be used to simulate cream to make birthday cakes; hydrogenated fried french fries and twists It can keep the oil clear and not turbid for a long time... Because of this, hydrogenated oil has been widely used in recent years. However, hydrogenated oil contains a large amount of trans fatty acids, which is unhealthy for health.

　　Hazard: bad for heart health

　　Chinese Dietary Guidelines for Residents 2007 points out that high intake of trans fatty acids can increase low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C, "Bad" cholesterol), reduces high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C, "good" cholesterol), and increases the risk of atherosclerosis and coronary heart disease. Other studies have shown that trans fatty acids interfere with essential fatty acid metabolism, which may affect children''s growth and development and nervous system health.

　　Some researchers believe that trans fatty acids induce diabetes, tumors, and affect fetal development.

　　List: All foods containing hydrogenated oil in the ingredients contain trans fatty acids

　　Common are:

　　 bread with meringue, such as French croissants, Crispy bean paste, etc.

　　Sweet pastry or snacks

　　French fries, potato chips

　　yolk pie or strawberry pie

　　大Some biscuits

　　Instant noodles

　　 puffs, wafers, shortbread, twists

　　chocolate

　　 salad dressing

　　cream cake, butter bread

　　ice cream

　　coffee mate or instant coffee.

　　Identification method: see the ingredient list

　　If the ingredient list of the food label contains "internal palm oil", "plant hydrogenated oil", "margarine (cream)", " Names such as "artificial fat", "hydrogenated oil", "shortening oil", "refined", "end of vegetable fat", "composite lipid ingredients" must be aware that they will contain trans fatty acids.

　　Domestic status: worrying

　　Although the average consumption of Chinese residents’ trans fatty acid intake is very different from that of developed countries, it has contained trans fatty acids in recent years The hydrogenated oil is widely used in the food processing industry to produce a variety of fashionable foods that are popular among young people. It is consumed in huge amounts in certain urban populations, and its harm cannot be ignored. At present, my country has not yet stipulated the words "contains trans fatty acids" on food packaging, nor does it require the content of trans fatty acids to be indicated. In the food hygiene standards, there is not even a "trans fatty acid" item. Management is lagging, the public still lacks awareness and vigilance on trans fatty acids!