# Haagen-dazs: "All Trans Fat here occurs naturally in dairy" **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 11, 2010, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/haagen-dazs-all-trans-fat-here-occurs-naturally-in-dairy/539062 "2010-05-11T16:32:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![No\_Wikipedia\_Cites](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@No\_Wikipedia\_Cites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/No_Wikipedia_Cites)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2010, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/haagen-dazs-all-trans-fat-here-occurs-naturally-in-dairy/539062/1 "2010-05-11T16:32:29Z")
Is that true? Cookies n’ cream has .5 trans fat a servin’. Is their little disclaimer legit, or am i being POISONED by the transdeath? “All Trans Fat in this product occurs naturally in dairy” Why no other ice cream says the same? ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2010, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/haagen-dazs-all-trans-fat-here-occurs-naturally-in-dairy/539062/2 "2010-05-11T16:58:55Z")
“Eighty percent of trans fats come from processed foods; the other 20% occur naturally in meat and dairy products.” From [here](http://www.webmd.com/food-recipes/features/trans-fats-in-plain-view). ---
**Author:** ![Anaglyph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Anaglyph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaglyph)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2010, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/haagen-dazs-all-trans-fat-here-occurs-naturally-in-dairy/539062/3 "2010-05-11T16:59:07Z")
On average, fatty acids extracted from milk contain between 2-6% w/w of trans fatty acids Zeitschrift für Ernährungswissenschaft,Volume 34, Number 1 / March, 1995, pp 27-29 ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2010, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/haagen-dazs-all-trans-fat-here-occurs-naturally-in-dairy/539062/4 "2010-05-11T17:07:27Z")
> [@](#): > > _Trans_ fats occur also naturally, although to a limited extent: [vaccenyl](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vaccenic_acid) and [conjugated linoleyl](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conjugated_linoleic_acid) (CLA) containing _trans_ fats occur naturally in trace amounts in meat and dairy products from [ruminants](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruminants), although the latter also constitutes a _cis_ fat. [Trans fat - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trans_fat) [Shining the Spotlight on Trans Fats](http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/nutrition-news/transfats/) from Harvard, School of Public Health. > [@](#): > > **The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) now requires food manufacturers to list trans fat (i.e., trans fatty acids) on Nutrition Facts and some Supplement Facts panels.** Scientific evidence shows that consumption of saturated fat, trans fat, and dietary cholesterol raises low-density lipoprotein (LDL or “bad”) cholesterol levels that increase the risk of coronary heart disease (CHD). According to the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health, over 12.5 million Americans suffer from CHD, and more than 500,000 die each year. This makes CHD one of the leading causes of death in the United States today. > > \*\*FDA has required that saturated fat and dietary cholesterol be listed on the food label since 1993. By adding trans fat on the Nutrition Facts panel (required by January 1, 2006), consumers now know for the first time how much of all three – saturated fat, trans fat, and cholesterol – are in the foods they choose. \*\*Identifying saturated fat, trans fat, and cholesterol on the food label gives consumers information to make heart-healthy food choices that help them reduce their risk of CHD. This revised label, which includes information on trans fat as well as saturated fat and cholesterol, will be of particular interest to people concerned about high blood cholesterol and heart disease. However, all Americans should be aware of the risk posed by consuming too much saturated fat, trans fat, and cholesterol. But what is trans fat, and how can you limit the amount of this fat in your diet? [http://www.fda.gov/Food/LabelingNutrition/ConsumerInformation/ucm109832.htm](http://www.fda.gov/Food/LabelingNutrition/ConsumerInformation/ucm109832.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2010, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/haagen-dazs-all-trans-fat-here-occurs-naturally-in-dairy/539062/5 "2010-05-11T17:41:25Z")
Haagen-dazs is notoriously high in fat in general, so it stands to reason that it’d be higher in natural trans fats than most other brands, too. Probably there’s some threshold value below which they don’t need to list trans fats at all on the label, and most ice creams fall below that point, but Haagen-dazs doesn’t, so they have to list them. But they also don’t want to freak people out, so they make sure to also point out that it’s natural, which for some odd reason reassures people. > [@](#): > > Is their little disclaimer legit, or am i being POISONED by the transdeath? Nothing says it can’t be both. The trans fats really are naturally-occurring, and they really are just as bad for you as the same substances made in a factory. “Natural” does not mean “good”. Of course, you probably already know that too much Haagen-dazs is bad for you, anyway. It’s a balancing act between how bad it is for you, and how much you enjoy it. This would be true even without the trans-fats. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2010, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/haagen-dazs-all-trans-fat-here-occurs-naturally-in-dairy/539062/6 "2010-05-11T18:25:59Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > “Natural” does not mean “good”. Precisely. In fact, that phrase ought to be printed on every food package, never mind the other disclaimers. ---
**Author:** ![glowacks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/glowacks/32/5548_2.png) [@glowacks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glowacks)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2010, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/haagen-dazs-all-trans-fat-here-occurs-naturally-in-dairy/539062/7 "2010-05-13T05:04:54Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > The trans fats really are naturally-occurring, and they really are just as bad for you as the same substances made in a factory. . This is not, according to my knowledge, true. Conjugated linoleic acid, one of the naturally occurring trans-fats, is _also_ a cis-fat:it has one double bond in each configuration. It’s the cis-style double bond that makes unsaturated fats in some ways healthier than saturated fats, by causing the chain of carbons to bend - a trans-style double bone causes the molecule to remain in a fairly straight line. Vaccenic acid, the other major naturally occurring trans-far, is converted to a conjugated acid similar to the one above in mammals and has been shown to perhaps have health benefits. Wikipedia cites [http://www.afns.ales.ualberta.ca/news.cfm?story=75846](http://www.afns.ales.ualberta.ca/news.cfm?story=75846) for that claim, and is the source of all the information in this post.