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食品製造商為何使用氫化植物油？
氫化植物油的特性是穩定性較高，使用於油炸食物或
烘焙食物，口感較佳，保存期亦較長，價錢亦較便
宜。
「不含反式脂肪」（0 Trans Fat）食品較健康？
現時開始有不少食品標榜「
0 TransFat
」，但這些食品不
一定更健康，原因有以下幾個：
「不含反式脂肪」不等於完全不含反式脂肪。有些美國
入口的食品，由於美國的食品標籤條例中訂明，每份
食用量少於
0 . 5
克反式脂肪的食品，均可標籤為「
0
Trans Fat
」。如果大量進食「
0 Trans Fat
」，亦有機會進
食不少的反式脂肪。
「不含反式脂肪」不一定等於低熱量或低脂肪
即使食品製造商完全不使用氫化植物油為成分，可能
有使用其他油脂或使用糖分，令食品的熱量增加。「不
含反式脂肪」食品可能含飽和脂肪。有些食品製造商不
使用氫化植物油，但可能以含有飽和脂肪的油脂取
代，例如牛油、動物脂肪、牛奶脂肪。這些飽和脂肪
亦會令膽固醇升高，不利心臟健康。因此，消費者學
懂閱讀營養標籤，除了看反式脂肪的含量以外，亦應
留意總脂肪及飽和脂肪的含量，則對食品可有更透徹
的了解。
如何減低攝取反式脂肪？
保持一個低脂肪飲食習慣，包括：外出飲食時多選擇
蒸、焗的食物；減少進食煎炸食物，例如薯條、炸
雞、油條之類。烘焙食品中選擇低脂麵包如豬仔包、
芝麻條、提子麥包，減少選擇酥皮包、油炸包、曲奇
餅、蛋糕等。
●
減少選擇有反式脂肪成分的包裝食品
●
避免使用硬身人造牛油，可使用不含反式脂肪的人
造牛油或花生醬。
HOW MUCH DO YOU KNOW ABOUT TRANS FATTY ACIDS ?
As animal fat, including butter, has the harmful effects of saturated fats, in 1902, a German food scientist pioneered hydrogenation
of vegetable oils - to harden soft (cis) oil into harder (trans) fats. In fact, trans fat also exists in food, e.g., beef, pork, mutton,
butter, milk, etc., but, as the content is very low, the vast majority of our ingested trans fatty acids are from hydrogenated
vegetable oils. For years, hydrogenated vegetable oils have been hailed as healthier until the so-called "low-trans fat" vegetable
butter became available. The recommended intake of trans fats is 1% of our daily calorie requirement. French fries, though low
in trans fats, is high in total and saturated fats. Those at high risk for cardiovascular diseases, e.g., hypertension, obesity,
diabetes, high cholesterol, etc., should avoid trans fats. If food is just labeled as "vegetable oil", go to the nutritional label. The
so-called "0 trans fats" may contain up to 0.5% trans fats so that excessive consumption of those would also increase the total
amount of trans fats; neither is it "low calorie" or "low fat". Avoid taking excess fried food, croissants, deep-fried breads, Chinese
dough sticks, cookies, cakes, etc. Be careful!
綜合報導
