Do You Know the Big FAT Truth?
There are a lot of lies going around about soft spreads. We're spreading the real facts right here.
Experts agree that you should limit both saturated fat and trans fat in the diet.
As a practical tip to help lower your intake of both saturated fat and trans fat, the FDA suggests using the Nutrition Facts Panel to compare food choices. Do the math by combining the grams of saturated fat and trans fat, and look for the lowest combined amount to make the best choice for a healthful diet.
That's why soft spreads like I Can't Believe It's Not Butter!®, Country Crock®, Promise® and Brummel & Brown® are great alternatives to butter, since they have 2 grams or less of saturated fat, no cholesterol and no trans fat per serving, and are made with nutritious plant oils like soybean and canola.
Source: http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/transfat.html
Soft spreads are a better nutrition choice than butter.
A quick comparison - in one tablespoon, butter contains:
- 7 grams of saturated fat
- 30 mg of cholesterol
A tablespoon of soft spreads, made from a blend of oils including soybean and canola, contains:
- 2 grams or less of saturated fat per serving
- 0 mg cholesterol
- 0 grams of trans fat per serving
- Essential fatty acids including Omega-3 ALA and Omega-6
What should you look for in a soft spread?
Choose a spread that has 0 grams trans fat, 2 grams or less saturated fat and no cholesterol per serving.
Margarine and soft spreads are not the same because they have different nutrition profiles.
It's easy to be confused. People tend to use these words interchangeably and often the dairy case in the grocery store is labeled as "margarine". By FDA standards of identity, regular margarine must contain at least 80% fat and this fat can be from oils such as corn, safflower, soybean or sunflower. Margarine must also contain at least 10% vitamin A and may include optional ingredients such as vitamin D. Margarine products on the market differ widely in fat content and fat composition.
Soft or "tub" spreads, like I Can't Believe It's Not Butter!®, Shedd's Spread Country Crock®, Promise® and Brummel & Brown® have the following qualities:
- varieties typically contain between 50-60% fat; light spreads have even less
- are made with a blend of vegetable oils including canola and soybean
- may contain other nutrients such as vitamin E and omega-3 ALA and may be enriched with calcium and vitamin D
In general, soft or tub spreads are a better nutrition option than margarine because they are lower in fat, trans fat and saturated fat and contain 0 grams trans fat per serving.
It is an urban myth that soft spreads are one molecule away from being plastic.
Soft spreads are made from a blend of nutritious vegetable oils such as canola, soybean, corn, sunflower and/or olive oil. By selecting oils that are lower in saturated fat and rich in essential fats such as Omega-3 ALA, soft spreads are nutritious as well as tasty and convenient to use.
Soft spreads are low in saturated fats and contain no cholesterol.
Soft spreads contain 0 grams of trans fat per serving and many have 2 grams or less of saturated fat per serving, including I Can't Believe It's Not Butter!®, Shedd's Spread Country Crock®, Promise® and Brummel & Brown®. By contrast, one tablespoon of butter contains 7 grams of saturated fat and 30 mg of cholesterol.
Soft spreads contain 0 grams of trans fat per serving.
The majority of trans fats in the diet are found in a wide range of foods including some traditional cooking shortenings and stick margarines, crackers, candies, cookies, snack foods, fried foods and bakery products. About one fifth of the trans fat in the diet occurs naturally in beef and fatty dairy products such as butter, whole fat milk and cheese.
According to the 2005 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, approximately 60% of the trans fat in the diet comes from processed foods and animal products-NOT soft spreads. Most soft spreads contain 0 grams of trans fat per serving.