The Tribune has reported on new research about transfat (“Artificial fats called worst for the heart,” Main news, Nov. 20).
This research reflected consumption of foods prior to 1991. Consumers may be misled to believe this study represents today’s margarine products. Nothing could be further from the facts.
Since 1980 the average fat content of margarine products has been reduced by 30 percent. While the total fat content has decreased, so has saturated and transfat. But there is even better news–soft and liquid margarines that dominate today’s margarine category are low in transfat or transfat-free. Even trans-free stick margarine is now available.
The new research revealed that polyunsaturated fat, found in high levels in margarine, protects against heart disease. Therefore, are margarine products heart-healthy? While this new research can’t tell us because it only evaluated specific fats and not individual foods, seven recent studies, involving more than 70,000 people, show margarine products, especially the softer varieties, are heart-healthy.
The American Heart Association and others continue to tell us to lower the total fat and saturated fat in our diet. That is precisely the advice margarine makers have been following as they continue to improve their products.
