Zero Trans Fat Menu?
Stephen touched on this subject in his blog, but I feel the need to mention it here too...
We've recently started being a bit more careful when it comes to trans fat. For those who don't know about it, it's the kind of fat that is pretty bad to eat. You know, clogging the old arteries and such. Now, I don't pretend to know a lot about this kind of stuff, but here in Canada, trans fat is making headlines and all of our food products have the amount of trans fat listed on the label.
So, if I can, I choose products with no trans fat at all. A lot of stuff has less than a gram per 100g (or like quality), but I still won't buy it if I feel like I can avoid it. Some products, like pizza, don't seem to have a trans fat-free option, so I buy the one with the least.
Anyway, we've noticed that KFC are no offering a trans fat-free menu. Great! If we're going out for fast food, they've got our business. Plus they're pretty tasty.
But during a light-hearted debate last night about whether or not their full menu was trans fat-free or whether it was just selected items, I visit their website and was astonished by what I saw. To quote the KFC Canada website:
Each 0 Trans Fat Menu Selection contains per serving:
Less than 0.2 grams of trans fat
2 grams or less of saturated fatty acids and trans fats combined per serving
15% or less of energy derived from the sum of saturated and trans fatty acids
Huh? What the heck does all that mean? Firstly, I see that their ZERO trans fat menu selections are not really ZERO trans fat. And secondly, well, all three of those statements mention trans fat! So because the amount of trans fat starts with a zero (meaning that it is less than a gram) it can legally be considered a zero trans fat product? I find that very misleading.
You know, I’m not stupid. I don’t expect to get a healthy meal from KFC. I do think that they’ve taken a step in the right directly, but their desire to capitalize on the public’s fear of trans fat has made it a little bit too easy for them to be coy with information.
Will I still eat at KFC? Oh, go on then… I’ll have a Big Crunch Combo, please.
