Truth in labeling

I was at a party recently, and as usual, there was the standard fare of potato chips and other fattening snacks (all the good and tasty stuff). I took particular notice of the new Lay's chips that are "made with 100% pure Sunflower oil". Combine that with the "0gs of Trans fats", and most people would consider those chips somewhat healthy. Ohh how wrong you are.


Take a look at that ingredient list. The first thing you'll notice is that Sunflower oil is not the only oil. Sure, the Sunflower oil they're using is 100% pure, but it is only one of several oils...and despite the packaging stating 0gs of Trans fats, the "partially hydrogenated Soybean and Cottonseed oil" says otherwise. That is not really Lay's fault there. The FDA says that if you have 0.5g (or less) per serving of Trans Fats you can say that you have "0g of Trans Fats" on your packaging.

Ok, so you have 0.5g of trans fats per serving, typically a serving of potato chips is around 12-15 chips...how many people eat the exact serving size? I'm thinking double or triple the serving size, and that 0.5g of bad oil multiplies, along with the other fats.

Why do I mention this? As more and more companies start offering "healthy" alternatives, it is still going to pay to look at food labels. I'm doing my best to stay away from foods with man-made ingredients in them. It can be hard...you've got the aforementioned hydrogenated oils, artificial colors, High Fructose Corn Syrup, and Aspartame, just to name a few.
I try to go organic when I can, but as I said, it can be a challenge.

Anyway, I was just really surprised to read those ingredients.