Written by Catherine Saxelby
on Friday, 19 April 2013.
Tagged: coconut, fats, label, oil
Q. I have been told that just checking for VEGETABLE OIL in the ingredients list is not enough if I want to avoid saturated fat.
A. This is true. While most vegetable oils like olive, sunflower or canola are low in saturated fat and high in healthy mono- and polyunsaturated fats, this isn’t the case 100 per cent of the time. Vegetable oil is used to either 'hide' the use of cheap palm or coconut oil OR because a number of different oils is included so an umbrella term covers the lot!
The big exceptions are palm oil and coconut oil.
You will often spot VEGETABLE OIL on an Ingredient list and more often than not it will be because palm oil is used. One way of checking is to cross-check the nutrition information panel.
If more than one third of the food's total fat is saturated, it is unlikely the vegetable oil used is a healthier variety and you are best to give it a miss. Or eat it sparingly.
Catherine Saxelby has the answers! She is an accredited nutritionist, blogger and award-winning author. Her award-winning book My Nutritionary will help you cut through the jargon. Do you know your MCTs from your LCTs? How about sterols from stanols? What’s the difference between glucose and dextrose? Or probiotics and prebiotics? What additive is number 330? How safe is acesulfame K? If you find yourself confused by food labels, grab your copy of Catherine Saxelby’s comprehensive guide My Nutritionary NOW!
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