Monday, October 31, 2011

Did you buy Halloween candies with Trans Fat?

During my recent trips to stores buying some candies for Halloween, I noticed two problems with some candies and chocolates.
1. There are some candies containing trans-fat, a.k.a., partially hydrogenated oil. Included is a link detailing why trans-fat is bad for human bodies.
http://www.treelight.com/health/nutrition/PartiallyHydrogenatedOils.html
2. There are quite a lot of candies that are from China. With the rotten food safety record in China, I don’t understand why people would pay money for Chinese candies, needless eating them. It’s likely many shoppers don’t read where the candies are from. Just to keep you update on the rationales of why it’s dangerous to eat food from China, please read the following link for the latest news on Chinese food.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/07/20/gutter-oil-china-sounds-a_n_652398.html

After kids coming back from Trick’r Treat, it would help to go through the candies and chocolates, and read the ingredients, not just the nutrition information. FCC rules allow food manufacturers to label 0% trans-fat in the Nutrition Information section if the trans-fat is less than 0.49%. Therefore the information in Ingredient section is more accurate. Some manufacturers do not print any ingredients on packets of candies and chocolates. We can go to the website or call to find out the ingredients.

Have a safe and fun Halloween!