Guest guest Posted May 31, 2003 Report Share Posted May 31, 2003 Hi everyone, I need a little bit of help reading food labels. I know that Oreo cookies are renowned for having animal fat in them, but how about the generic types? My husband returned from the store with " chocolate sandwich cookies " and I can't tell if they're vegetarian or not. The fat is partially hydrogenated vegetable oil shortening (containing soybean or cottonseed oil) which sounds okay enough (other than being immensely unhealthy and junky), but how about " natural and artifical flavor " ? What might that mean? Is there a general rule to follow for ingredients? I don't mind a tiny bit of non-veggie items getting past me unnoticed occasionally -- like unknowingly eating cheese made from rennet -- but the less, the better. Thanks a lot! Tempest Free online calendar with sync to Outlook. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 31, 2003 Report Share Posted May 31, 2003 TempestuousTrollop <tempestuoustrollop wrote: Hi everyone, I need a little bit of help reading food labels. I know that Oreo cookies are renowned for having animal fat in them, but how about the generic types? My husband returned from the store with " chocolate sandwich cookies " and I can't tell if they're vegetarian or not. The fat is partially hydrogenated vegetable oil shortening (containing soybean or cottonseed oil) which sounds okay enough (other than being immensely unhealthy and junky), but how about " natural and artifical flavor " ? What might that mean? Is there a general rule to follow for ingredients? I don't mind a tiny bit of non-veggie items getting past me unnoticed occasionally -- like unknowingly eating cheese made from rennet -- but the less, the better. Thanks a lot! Tempest Free online calendar with sync to Outlook. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 1, 2003 Report Share Posted June 1, 2003 if oreos are known for animal fat, it isn't the fault of manufacturer nabisco. the recipe USED TO include animal fat, but hasn't for several years. there is some concern to vegetarians and other groups, however, as indicated in this entry from the food product design webpage (http://www.foodproductdesign.com/): " Once shunned by kosher consumers, vegetarians and others loathe to ingest lard, Oreo cookies have been manufactured exclusively with vegetable shortening for several years now. The only remaining obstacle has been that some of the equipment used before the reformulation has not yet been replaced. " the amount of animal lard ingested by consumers of oreos from this machinery is virtually infinitesimal. thus it boils down to matters of principle: either one shuns oreos for not completely renovating their production facilities or one rewards nabisco for responding to the desires of vegetarian consumers. i quite happily eat oreos. so, as i've shown, once upon a time vegetarians couldn't in good conscience eat oreos. this was not the case with the sunshine bakery company's hydrox (the original chocolate sandwich cookie, predating the nabisco brand), which has always been made with vegetable shortening/oils only. in 1996, however, nabisco bought out sunshine, refomulated the hydrox recipe, and re-introduced the cookie as " keebler droxies " . not to worry, though: by that time the oreo recipe had been altered, too, and it no longer contained lard. to answer your question about other brands--at least in the case of sandwich cookies--lard will be listed as precisely what it is. according to the food and drug adminstration's food labeling act, " The source of all fats and oils must be specified (for example, soybean oil rather than vegetable oil; lard rather than shortening). " certain enzymes, such as rennet, can be animal derived, but these have no place in sandwich cookies. this is not the case with " natural flavor " or " natural flavoring " , which has often been used to mask animal-derived ingerdients. this is not only of concern to vegetarians and those of certain religions, but individuals with food allergies as well. in the case of the cookies in question it is unlikely that the ingredients are animal- derived, but there is no guarantee that this is the case. you may be interested to know that the vegetarian legal action network (http://www.veggielawyers.org/) has sponsored a petitions aimed at altering the fda's food labeling acts, in particular 21 C.F.R. § 101.22(h), which specifically defines the parameters of " natural " ingredients. hope all this info didn't overwhelm you. , TempestuousTrollop <tempestuoustrollop> wrote: > > Hi everyone, > > I need a little bit of help reading food labels. I know that Oreo cookies are renowned for having animal fat in them, but how about the generic types? My husband returned from the store with " chocolate sandwich cookies " and I can't tell if they're vegetarian or not. > > The fat is partially hydrogenated vegetable oil shortening (containing soybean or cottonseed oil) which sounds okay enough (other than being immensely unhealthy and junky), but how about " natural and artifical flavor " ? What might that mean? Is there a general rule to follow for ingredients? > > I don't mind a tiny bit of non-veggie items getting past me unnoticed occasionally -- like unknowingly eating cheese made from rennet -- but the less, the better. > > Thanks a lot! > > Tempest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 1, 2003 Report Share Posted June 1, 2003 What's got me hot under the collar about oreo's (my FAVE by the way) is not the potential of animal fat- but apparently the little buggers are loaded with trans fat. So much so that there was some flap about a lawsuit because this wasn't on the label. Correct me if I am wrong, but transfat is the worst of the fats, and is what happens when you try to take an innocent plant oil and make it act like a lard or butter. I think even margerine contains transfat, but may be completely mistaken. Jimi 45 <jimi45_skin wrote: if oreos are known for animal fat, it isn't the fault of manufacturer nabisco. the recipe USED TO include animal fat, but hasn't for several years. there is some concern to vegetarians and other groups, however, as indicated in this entry from the food product design webpage (http://www.foodproductdesign.com/): " Once shunned by kosher consumers, vegetarians and others loathe to ingest lard, Oreo cookies have been manufactured exclusively with vegetable shortening for several years now. The only remaining obstacle has been that some of the equipment used before the reformulation has not yet been replaced. " the amount of animal lard ingested by consumers of oreos from this machinery is virtually infinitesimal. thus it boils down to matters of principle: either one shuns oreos for not completely renovating their production facilities or one rewards nabisco for responding to the desires of vegetarian consumers. i quite happily eat oreos. so, as i've shown, once upon a time vegetarians couldn't in good conscience eat oreos. this was not the case with the sunshine bakery company's hydrox (the original chocolate sandwich cookie, predating the nabisco brand), which has always been made with vegetable shortening/oils only. in 1996, however, nabisco bought out sunshine, refomulated the hydrox recipe, and re-introduced the cookie as " keebler droxies " . not to worry, though: by that time the oreo recipe had been altered, too, and it no longer contained lard. to answer your question about other brands--at least in the case of sandwich cookies--lard will be listed as precisely what it is. according to the food and drug adminstration's food labeling act, " The source of all fats and oils must be specified (for example, soybean oil rather than vegetable oil; lard rather than shortening). " certain enzymes, such as rennet, can be animal derived, but these have no place in sandwich cookies. this is not the case with " natural flavor " or " natural flavoring " , which has often been used to mask animal-derived ingerdients. this is not only of concern to vegetarians and those of certain religions, but individuals with food allergies as well. in the case of the cookies in question it is unlikely that the ingredients are animal- derived, but there is no guarantee that this is the case. you may be interested to know that the vegetarian legal action network (http://www.veggielawyers.org/) has sponsored a petitions aimed at altering the fda's food labeling acts, in particular 21 C.F.R. § 101.22(h), which specifically defines the parameters of " natural " ingredients. hope all this info didn't overwhelm you. , TempestuousTrollop <tempestuoustrollop> wrote: > > Hi everyone, > > I need a little bit of help reading food labels. I know that Oreo cookies are renowned for having animal fat in them, but how about the generic types? My husband returned from the store with " chocolate sandwich cookies " and I can't tell if they're vegetarian or not. > > The fat is partially hydrogenated vegetable oil shortening (containing soybean or cottonseed oil) which sounds okay enough (other than being immensely unhealthy and junky), but how about " natural and artifical flavor " ? What might that mean? Is there a general rule to follow for ingredients? > > I don't mind a tiny bit of non-veggie items getting past me unnoticed occasionally -- like unknowingly eating cheese made from rennet -- but the less, the better. > > Thanks a lot! > > Tempest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 1, 2003 Report Share Posted June 1, 2003 You're right about the trans fats. Janice ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Blessed are those who can laugh at themselves, for they shall never cease to be amused. - " starfrog " <starfrog1969 Sunday, June 01, 2003 3:22 AM Re: Re: Oreo cookies and food labels What's got me hot under the collar about oreo's (my FAVE by the way) is not the potential of animal fat- but apparently the little buggers are loaded with trans fat. So much so that there was some flap about a lawsuit because this wasn't on the label. Correct me if I am wrong, but transfat is the worst of the fats, and is what happens when you try to take an innocent plant oil and make it act like a lard or butter. I think even margerine contains transfat, but may be completely mistaken. Jimi 45 <jimi45_skin wrote: if oreos are known for animal fat, it isn't the fault of manufacturer nabisco. the recipe USED TO include animal fat, but hasn't for several years. there is some concern to vegetarians and other groups, however, as indicated in this entry from the food product design webpage (http://www.foodproductdesign.com/): " Once shunned by kosher consumers, vegetarians and others loathe to ingest lard, Oreo cookies have been manufactured exclusively with vegetable shortening for several years now. The only remaining obstacle has been that some of the equipment used before the reformulation has not yet been replaced. " the amount of animal lard ingested by consumers of oreos from this machinery is virtually infinitesimal. thus it boils down to matters of principle: either one shuns oreos for not completely renovating their production facilities or one rewards nabisco for responding to the desires of vegetarian consumers. i quite happily eat oreos. so, as i've shown, once upon a time vegetarians couldn't in good conscience eat oreos. this was not the case with the sunshine bakery company's hydrox (the original chocolate sandwich cookie, predating the nabisco brand), which has always been made with vegetable shortening/oils only. in 1996, however, nabisco bought out sunshine, refomulated the hydrox recipe, and re-introduced the cookie as " keebler droxies " . not to worry, though: by that time the oreo recipe had been altered, too, and it no longer contained lard. to answer your question about other brands--at least in the case of sandwich cookies--lard will be listed as precisely what it is. according to the food and drug adminstration's food labeling act, " The source of all fats and oils must be specified (for example, soybean oil rather than vegetable oil; lard rather than shortening). " certain enzymes, such as rennet, can be animal derived, but these have no place in sandwich cookies. this is not the case with " natural flavor " or " natural flavoring " , which has often been used to mask animal-derived ingerdients. this is not only of concern to vegetarians and those of certain religions, but individuals with food allergies as well. in the case of the cookies in question it is unlikely that the ingredients are animal- derived, but there is no guarantee that this is the case. you may be interested to know that the vegetarian legal action network (http://www.veggielawyers.org/) has sponsored a petitions aimed at altering the fda's food labeling acts, in particular 21 C.F.R. § 101.22(h), which specifically defines the parameters of " natural " ingredients. hope all this info didn't overwhelm you. , TempestuousTrollop <tempestuoustrollop> wrote: > > Hi everyone, > > I need a little bit of help reading food labels. I know that Oreo cookies are renowned for having animal fat in them, but how about the generic types? My husband returned from the store with " chocolate sandwich cookies " and I can't tell if they're vegetarian or not. > > The fat is partially hydrogenated vegetable oil shortening (containing soybean or cottonseed oil) which sounds okay enough (other than being immensely unhealthy and junky), but how about " natural and artifical flavor " ? What might that mean? Is there a general rule to follow for ingredients? > > I don't mind a tiny bit of non-veggie items getting past me unnoticed occasionally -- like unknowingly eating cheese made from rennet -- but the less, the better. > > Thanks a lot! > > Tempest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 1, 2003 Report Share Posted June 1, 2003 Not only are they loaded with transfat, but they are loaded with genetically modified fats as well. http://www.truefoodnow.org/gmo_facts/product_list/cookies.html Above is a link to Greenpeace's list of foods containing genetically modified ingredients. Of course the above link is to the " cookies " section. You can access the rest of it from there. --- starfrog <starfrog1969 wrote: > What's got me hot under the collar about oreo's > (my FAVE by the way) is not the potential of > animal fat- but apparently the little buggers > are loaded with trans fat. So much so that > there was some flap about a lawsuit because > this wasn't on the label. > > Correct me if I am wrong, but transfat is the > worst of the fats, and is what happens when > you try to take an innocent plant oil and make > it act like a lard or butter. I think even > margerine contains transfat, but may be > completely mistaken. > > Jimi 45 <jimi45_skin wrote: > if oreos are known for animal fat, it isn't the > fault of manufacturer > nabisco. > > the recipe USED TO include animal fat, but > hasn't for several years. > there is some concern to vegetarians and other > groups, however, as > indicated in this entry from the food product > design webpage > (http://www.foodproductdesign.com/): > > " Once shunned by kosher consumers, vegetarians > and others loathe to > ingest lard, Oreo cookies have been > manufactured exclusively with > vegetable shortening for several years now. The > only remaining > obstacle has been that some of the equipment > used before the > reformulation has not yet been replaced. " > > the amount of animal lard ingested by consumers > of oreos from this > machinery is virtually infinitesimal. > > thus it boils down to matters of principle: > either one shuns oreos > for not completely renovating their production > facilities or one > rewards nabisco for responding to the desires > of vegetarian consumers. > i quite happily eat oreos. > > so, as i've shown, once upon a time vegetarians > couldn't in good > conscience eat oreos. this was not the case > with the sunshine bakery > company's hydrox (the original chocolate > sandwich cookie, predating > the nabisco brand), which has always been made > with vegetable > shortening/oils only. in 1996, however, nabisco > bought out sunshine, > refomulated the hydrox recipe, and > re-introduced the cookie > as " keebler droxies " . not to worry, though: by > that time the oreo > recipe had been altered, too, and it no longer > contained lard. > > to answer your question about other brands--at > least in the case of > sandwich cookies--lard will be listed as > precisely what it is. > according to the food and drug adminstration's > food labeling > act, " The source of all fats and oils must be > specified (for example, > soybean oil rather than vegetable oil; lard > rather than shortening). " > certain enzymes, such as rennet, can be animal > derived, but these > have no place in sandwich cookies. > > this is not the case with " natural flavor " or > " natural flavoring " , > which has often been used to mask > animal-derived ingerdients. this is > not only of concern to vegetarians and those of > certain religions, > but individuals with food allergies as well. in > the case of the > cookies in question it is unlikely that the > ingredients are animal- > derived, but there is no guarantee that this is > the case. > > you may be interested to know that the > vegetarian legal action > network (http://www.veggielawyers.org/) has > sponsored a petitions > aimed at altering the fda's food labeling acts, > in particular 21 > C.F.R. § 101.22(h), which specifically defines > the parameters > of " natural " ingredients. > > hope all this info didn't overwhelm you. > > > > , > TempestuousTrollop > <tempestuoustrollop> wrote: > > > > Hi everyone, > > > > I need a little bit of help reading food > labels. I know that Oreo > cookies are renowned for having animal fat in > them, but how about the > generic types? My husband returned from the > store with " chocolate > sandwich cookies " and I can't tell if they're > vegetarian or not. > > > > The fat is partially hydrogenated vegetable > oil shortening > (containing soybean or cottonseed oil) which > sounds okay enough > (other than being immensely unhealthy and > junky), but how > about " natural and artifical flavor " ? What > might that mean? Is > there a general rule to follow for ingredients? > > > > I don't mind a tiny bit of non-veggie items > getting past me > unnoticed occasionally -- like unknowingly > eating cheese made from > rennet -- but the less, the better. > > > > Thanks a lot! > > > > Tempest > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 1, 2003 Report Share Posted June 1, 2003 yup. still bad for you. the transfats and tropical fats replaced animal fat, but by no means did it make them any healthier. there are two basic categories for fats: unsaturated and saturated. unsaturated fats further break down into mono- and poly-unsaturated categories. but saturated by what? mono- and poly-, meaning what of " one " and " many " represent that something. it's hydrogen. the more hydrogen bonds, the more saturated a molecule becomes. transfats or transfatty acids are fats which have been modified on a molecular level from one category to, or near to, another category. essentially, an unsaturated fat is turned into a saturated fat. by adding hydrogen atoms to vegetable oils, they can mimic saturated animal fats. why is this done? for several reasons. *adding hydrogen to fat molecules raises the melting temperature of that fat. thus, a vegetable oil which is unsuited to baking needs can now be of use, and without the cholesterol of saturated animal fats. (is this necessarily good? no. not all cholesterol is bad, and without " good " cholesterol the body is bereft of an important blood- cleansing agent.) *hydrogenated fats give the consumer a sensation of " fullness " . psychologically, they are more rewarding, as they trick the body and the palate into thinking that they ahve gotten the more complete fats they crave. this isn't necessarily good in modern diets, but there you have it. humans also crave " sweet " constantly, but neither is this particularly good in the modern diet. *hydrogenated fats replace costly " tropical " oils (palm kernel, coconut, etc), which are rare examples of plant-derived saturated fats. now read this, from " food technology " magazine [march 1998]: " Emerging data suggest that trans fatty acids may raise blood levels of LDL cholesterol to much the same extent as saturated fatty acids. In addition, recent epidemiological studies indicate that trans fatty acid intake is associated with incidence of heart disease, and that the type, not the amount, of fat in the diet contributes to the risk of this disease. The take-away message for consumers is that trans fat and saturated fat should be at least partially replaced by monoand polyunsaturated fats in the diet. " transfats give the appearace of healthier alternatives, but they are not. and, yes, they appear to be worse than naturally occurring saturated fats. they do show up on ingredients as " hydrogenated " or " partially hydrogenates " oils. i'll still eat my oreos. oh, and here's a decent thumbnail breakdown of fats if you're interested: http://health./health/encyclopedia/002468/0.html , " ~Janice Macak~ " <serenity1@m...> wrote: > You're right about the trans fats. > > Janice > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ > Blessed are those who can laugh at themselves, > for they shall never cease to be amused. > > - > " starfrog " <starfrog1969> > > Sunday, June 01, 2003 3:22 AM > Re: Re: Oreo cookies and food labels > > > What's got me hot under the collar about oreo's (my FAVE by the way) is not > the potential of animal fat- but apparently the little buggers are loaded > with trans fat. So much so that there was some flap about a lawsuit because > this wasn't on the label. > > Correct me if I am wrong, but transfat is the worst of the fats, and is > what happens when you try to take an innocent plant oil and make it act like > a lard or butter. I think even margerine contains transfat, but may be > completely mistaken. > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 2, 2003 Report Share Posted June 2, 2003 Yeah, me too, just eat way less of them. *lol* Your post on fats was very informative. Thanks. ~ PT ~ Learn how to be happy with what you have while you pursue all that you want. ~ Jim Rohn ~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~~~~~~~> , " Jimi 45 " <jimi45_skin> wrote: > yup. still bad for you. > i'll still eat my oreos. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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