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[McNoodle]

What exactly is hydrogenated fat, why is it so bad for you, and is everything in the chippy cooked in it?

[BBWCHATT]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vegetable_oil_%28 disambiguation%29

Hydrogenated fats and oils are triglyceride-based fats and oils which have been sparged at high temperature and high pressure with hydrogen. The hydrogen bonds with the triglyceride, increasing the molecular weight. Oils are hydrogenated to increase resistance to rancidity (oxidation) or to raise the viscosity and melting point of the fat or oil.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shortening

Despite its worldwide usage and availability, vegetable shortening is believed to be damaging to human health since it generally contains trans fats in the form of partially hydrogenated vegetable oil. After the oils are hydrogenated they become solid at room temperature, but the type of trans fat generated in this process has adverse health effects. Shortening containing no trans fats has grown in usage, notably with the 2007 reformulation of Crisco such that it contains less than 1g of trans fat per 12g serving. Non-hydrogenated vegetable shortening can be made from palm oil.

Denmark became the first country to introduce laws strictly regulating the sale of many foods containing trans fats in March 2003, a move which effectively bans partially hydrogenated oils, and as a result shortening that contains it.

[BBWCHATT]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trans_fats

Trans fatty acids (commonly termed trans fats) are a type of unsaturated fat (and may be monounsaturated or polyunsaturated).

Trans fats occur, in small quantities, in meat and dairy products from ruminants. Most trans fats consumed today, however, are industrially created as a side effect of partial hydrogenation of plant oils � a process developed in the early 1900s and first commercialized as Crisco in 1911. Partial hydrogenation changes a fat's molecular structure (raising its melting point and reducing rancidity), but this process also results in a portion of the changed fat becoming trans fat.

Unlike other fats, trans fats are neither required nor beneficial for health.[1] Eating trans fat increases the risk of coronary heart disease.[2] For these reasons, health authorities worldwide recommend that consumption of trans fat be reduced to trace amounts. Trans fats from partially hydrogenated oils are generally considered to be more of a health risk than those occurring naturally.[3]

Trans fats are tightly regulated in a few countries, must be disclosed on product labels in many others, and are the central issue in several ongoing lawsuits (particularly against fast food outlets). Many companies are voluntarily removing trans fats from their products, or establishing trans-free product lines.

Chemically, trans fats are made of the same building blocks as non-trans fats, but have a different shape. In trans fat molecules, the hydrogens on the doubly bonded carbon atoms (characteristic of all unsaturated fats) are in the trans rather than the cis configuration, resulting in a straighter, rather than kinked, shape. As a result, trans fats are less fluid and have a higher melting point than the corresponding cis fats.

[lafrancaise]

Apparently, not all chippies cook in hydrogenated fat, see this

http://www.frenchs.co.uk/The%20Chip%20Shop%20G ang.html