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Healthy Home Economist / Archives / Healthy Living / Is Trans Fat in Meat and Dairy Dangerous?

Is Trans Fat in Meat and Dairy Dangerous?

by Sarah Pope / Affiliate Links ✔

Table of Contents[Hide][Show]
  • Natural Trans Fat in Meat and Milk
  • Artificial Trans Fats
  • Reference

natural transfat in meat stick

Perhaps you have noticed that natural meat-based snacks targeted to those who avoid refined carbs and sugar have a little secret hiding on the nutritional label…trans fat!

One of my kids brought it to my attention the other day as he was munching on a grass-fed meat stick that I frequently buy for snacks. Sometimes, they even grab one for a quick breakfast in the car when we’re running late!

Since I typically vet only the list of ingredients of any product before I buy it, I hadn’t noticed that the label actually listed trans fat under the Total Fat section. In other words, if the ingredients are fine and the product is minimally processed, I don’t worry much about what the politically correct “Nutrition Facts” section has to say.

This product had trans fat listed despite the fact that the ingredients were perfect.

Grass-fed beef, wildflower honey, sea salt, black pepper, garlic powder.

My son wanted to know how could products consisting only of whole foods have trans fat in them?

Natural Trans Fat in Meat and Milk

It is true that animal foods like butter, cream, and grass-fed meat contain a small amount of trans fat.

This form of trans fat is quite different structurally from the artificial factory-created kind made out of cheap vegetable oils, however!

Trans fat in animal foods is actually trans vaccenic acid (VA).

This fat is used by humans to synthesize the very healthy and desirable lipid “conjugated linoleic acid” (CLA). (1)

CLA is highly beneficial for losing weight and building muscle mass. It can reduce risk factors for metabolic syndrome with its hallmark symptoms of obesity, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes.

Trans fat in processed foods is NOT the same. It is not a metabolic precursor for fat burning CLA.

Artificial Trans Fats

It is important to understand that current Federal labeling for trans fat does not distinguish between naturally occurring trans fat and the artificially created, synthetic kind.

Could it be that regulations fail to separate natural vs synthetic trans fats for labeling purposes in order to steer people toward more heavily processed fare that is much more highly profitable?

It’s certainly possible and something to consider!

The crazy thing is that ultra-processed snacks that list zero trans fats on the label probably still contain it! This is due to another loophole in the regulations.

Food manufacturers are permitted to put ZERO next to the trans fat line item on the label. This is the case as long as the food contains .5 grams or less of trans fat per serving.

Honest food producers will list it regardless…

The majority of food producers that choose to leave it off the label sneakily work around the requirement. How? By making serving sizes unnaturally small. These portions are not based on the reality of how people actually consume these products, however.

If an individual eats an entire bag of chips or close to it while watching TV, for instance, quite a bit of trans fat is consumed. According to the National Academy of Sciences (NAS), there is no safe consumption level of synthetic trans fats.

However, no worries about the natural trans fat in meat and dairy. This type of trans fat is actually healthy to consume!

trans fat in meat

Reference

(1) Health Benefits Discovered in Natural Trans Fats

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Category: Healthy Fats, Healthy Living
Sarah Pope

Sarah Pope MGA has been a Health and Nutrition Educator since 2002. She is a summa cum laude graduate in Economics from Furman University and holds a Master’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania.

She is the author of three books: the bestseller Get Your Fats Straight, Traditional Remedies for Modern Families, and Living Green in an Artificial World.

Her four eBooks Good Diet…Bad Diet, Real Food Fermentation, Ketonomics, and Ancestrally Inspired Dairy-Free Recipes are available for complimentary download via Healthy Home Plus.

Her mission is dedicated to helping families effectively incorporate the principles of ancestral diets within the modern household. She is a sought after lecturer around the world for conferences, summits, and podcasts.

Sarah was awarded Activist of the Year in 2010 at the International Wise Traditions Conference, subsequently serving on the Board of Directors of the nutrition nonprofit the Weston A. Price Foundation for seven years.

Her work has been covered by numerous independent and major media including USA Today, ABC, and NBC among many others.

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Reader Interactions

Comments (6)

  1. Donna

    Oct 19, 2020 at 12:03 pm

    I would love to know what the above label is from, what the product name is. I would buy that brand for their honesty in labeling, and pure ingredients!

    Reply
    • Sarah Pope MGA

      Oct 19, 2020 at 12:44 pm

      This is the product. https://amzn.to/3ogJJXY Most health food stores carry it from what I’ve seen, even Whole Foods.

  2. Sandi Russ

    Feb 5, 2020 at 8:22 am

    Thank you Sarah for explaining this. I would have been baffled as well if I had noticed it. Too bad that there are so many loopholes allowed to manufacturers. I had noticed the serving sizes before and laughed at them.

    Reply
  3. Maranatha Fauria

    Feb 4, 2020 at 11:15 pm

    I noticed trans fat on the label for tallow I bought a while ago and was so confused. I contacted the company and they told me the same thing. So interesting

    Reply
  4. Natalie G

    Jan 29, 2020 at 4:59 pm

    I guess you have to triple check everything or make it yourself.

    Reply
    • Sarah Pope MGA

      Jan 30, 2020 at 7:52 am

      The natural trans fat in the keto style snacks is ok … did you see that part in the article?

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