Part 4: Fats, Meats, and Eggs Based on the book “What to Eat” by Marion Nestle
Food fats that are largely saturated tend to be solid at room temp, beef fat for example. In contrast, soy fat which is largely polyunsaturated is a liquid oil and rather unstable. If left around long enough polyunsaturated oils become rancid and smell and taste bad. Hydrogenation fixes those problems; it makes the fat more solid and resistant to chemical damage. With partial hydrogenation, nearly half the polyunsaturated fatty acids remain; the rest are converted to monounsaturated or saturated fatty acids. It is not good to have more saturated fatty acids because these raise blood cholesterol levels, but partial hydrogenation creates another additional problem which are trans fats. Trans fats are not normal. They behave a lot like saturated fatty acids in the body where they can raise cholesterol levels and increase the risk of heart disease. These are what we need to watch out for in our plant-based fats/butters. Health claims on foods are allowed by the FDA with context and plant-based butters have them plastered all over. If you actually read those claims, you may just figure out that the other things you eat are more important for reducing your cholesterol level than plant-based butters and that these will only help lower cholesterol if everything else you eat is low in saturated fats and trans fats and you get plenty of exercise. Let’s chat about meat. The meat you see in the grocery store is usually more or less ready to cook refrigerated cases of prepackaged steaks, chops, hamburger, chickens, whole and separated, pork chops, bacon, lunch meats, and miscellaneous ready to cook breaded and sauced animal parts. Custom, convenience, taste, and price, not nutrition, are the main selling points. What about organic vs natural meats? We see meats labeled with no antibiotics, no added hormones, no animal by products in feed, and grassfed. These are practices designed to improve the health and safety of the animals you eat, and they are required for meats labeled organic. Some companies have these claims but are not certified organic with the USDA seal of approval. Instead, they are what the companies call natural. They are not organic. The statements tell you that the meat comes from animals that may have been treated better than conventionally raised animals, but the missing organic seal is a sign that the animals were not necessarily raised to organic standards. No rules require natural animals to be fed organically grown grain, to be allowed freedom of movement and access to the outdoors, to be raised without using antibiotics, hormones, or other animal drugs, or to be inspected for adherence to such practices. If the producers of natural meats follow such practices, they do so voluntarily. The appropriate use of “natural” applied to all fresh meat with only 3 restrictions: 1. The meat must have no artificial flavors, colors, or preservatives, 2. The meat must be processed only minimally (ground but not cooked), and 3. The companies had to define what they meant by natural on the package labels. Even the best natural meat is not the same as organic meat. Producers who want their meats certified as organic have to adhere to a stringent criterion that producers of natural meats do not. Natural meat producers can pick and choose among desirable raising practices, but organic has to adhere to all of them. Organic meat producers must be verified by inspection through accredited agencies, something natural does not need. This is why organic meats are much higher in price. Natural is on the honor system. With so many issues to be evaluated and balanced against one another the choice of meat and poultry seems especially complicated. When price is no object, this is the hierarchy: 1. Certified organic because the rules make sense and production is monitored by regular inspections that hold growers accountable for their practices, 2. Natural when it is very near organic claims, 3. Everything else. So, what about eggs? There are three separate certifying systems to convince you that hens are well treated: USDA certified organic, certified humane raised and handled, and united egg producers certified. Certified organic is the most familiar and the best regulated. If you see the certified organic seal on an egg carton it means the eggs come from hens that eat organic feed, are allowed access to the outdoors and sunlight, and are inspected to make sure the rules are followed. Humane certification requires some of the same things as organic certification but less restrictive about what the animals are fed. Hens have to be fed a nutritious diet without antibiotics or hormones and be raised with shelter, resting areas, sufficient space, and the ability to engage in natural behaviors. It attests to how the hens are treated but is less concerned with what they are fed. Color is easy, there are only 2 choices: white and brown. The color of an eggshell is determined by genetics. Some kinds of chickens lay white eggs, others brown. Color is the only difference; the nutritional contents are the same. The grades AA, A, or B refer to cosmetic differences; the nutritional value is the same. From a nutritional standpoint, eggs are eggs. Turning eggs into a designer food (adding in things) is a great way to get you to pay more for them, but there are less expensive and easier ways to get the vitamins and minerals added into them from other foods. If you don't care about how the eggs are produced, buy the cheapest ones you can find. The shell color makes no nutritional difference. If you do care about how the hens are treated, buy certified humane, and if you care about what they are fed buy organic.
