What Are Partially Hydrogenated Fats?
Partially hydrogenated fats first appeared on the market in the early 1900 s in products like Crisco and margarine, as an inexpensive substitute for butter. Today it is used in everything from cookies, to bread, ice cream, French fries, and peanut butter. Its main appeal to food manufacturers is its stability, meaning it can stay on the shelf for a long time before the fats start to go rancid. Fats are made of long chains of carbon atoms connected together, with hydrogen atoms sticking off the sides. They look something like this- – Saturated Fat The above fat is considered saturated , because all the Carbons have Hydrogens attached to their sides. If a hydrogen is missing, the fat is considered unsaturated , and there is a double-bond between the carbons. Polyunsaturated just means that there is more than one double bond. – Polyunsaturated Fat A hydrogenated fat is a polyunsaturated fat that has been reacted with hydrogen at a high pressure and temperature for 6 to 8 hours. The result
