Trans Fatty Acids: What’s the Worry?

Kristi, At present, McDonalds does not seem interested in replacing trans fats with healthier fats. Here’s part of a message they sent me a few days ago:

"Thank you for contacting McDonald’s. We always enjoy hearing from our customers and apologize for your dissatisfaction with our cooking oil.

It is important to know that, at McDonald’s, we recognize the importance our customers place on their individual and family’s dietary needs. Please be assured that we are committed to serving only top-quality products in our restaurants.

We currently cook our Crispy Chicken patties, fish fillets, Chicken McNuggets and french fries in partially hydrogenated vegetable oils (may contain partially hydrogenated soybean oil and/or partially hydrogenated corn oil and/or partially hydrogenated canola oil and/or cottonseed oil and/or sunflower oil and/or corn oil). Using this oil allows our customers to enjoy our french fries with no cholesterol."

Here's the message I sent to McDonalds:

Dear Sir:
I am a nutrition science analyst. I think McDonalds should resume using beef tallow to make french fries. I absolutely will not consume fries made with any sort of vegetable oil blend because of the omega-6 content. Besides, the science behind the recommendation to reduce saturated fat intake is incredibly uncertain. Consider the following discussion published by Scientific Psychic:

"For many years, saturated fats were equated with the artery clogging deleterious health effects associated with trans fats. Many authoritative medical sources advise decreasing the consumption of saturated fats because there is a relationship between serum total cholesterol concentrations and saturated fatty acid intake. However, several scientific studies indicate that saturated fats have beneficial biological effects and differ significantly from trans fats which are always bad. It is worthwhile noting that the butterfat in human milk has 20% more saturated fats than lard. Saturated fatty acids, particularly medium chain fatty acids such as lauric and capric acids, have been found to play an important role in supporting the immune system. Studies of the effects of specific fatty acids on serum cholesterol levels have shown that of the three most common saturated fatty acids in tallow and lard, only myristic acid increases the level of cholesterol in the blood substantially!

, whereas stearic acid has no effect, and the polyunsaturated linoleic acid decreases it. The quantitative relationship expressed by the Hegsted equation suggests that blood cholesterol levels may be lowered naturally by adding to our diet sources of linoleic acid such as safflower, sunflower, or grape seed oils.

Our knowledge of the metabolism of fats continues to increase and it will take many years of research and expensive long-term studies to establish objective facts to clarify the conflicting statements from government agencies, short-term studies, advocacy groups, commercial interests, and the latest diet fads."