Shame on the Heart Foundation.

Written by Changing Habits

October 5, 2010

I know, I know I am always harping on about the Heart Foundation but someone needs to make this organisation accountable! Their latest news release

, which can be viewed from the following url http://tinyurl.com/3ajvgn3, is asking the Australian public to not eat butter because it has trans and saturated fats. It is also siting Master Chef as the culprit for the increase in butter sales.

The Australian public needs to know that margarine, from its conception in the 1930’s till 2007, had a trans fat percentage of between 14-35% due to the partial hydrogenation of vegetable oil. The Heart Foundation had given their tick of approval for many decades despite evidence against trans fats since 1978. Their attitude really makes me believe that the Australian public’s health is not in their best interest and we should start to wonder what is behind some of their marketing strategies. Perhaps it is the almighty dollar?

Butter has a small amount of trans fat occurring naturally and reacts in the body differently than chemically produced man made trans fats, or the partial hydrogenation of vegetable oil. Butter also contains saturated fats but these are not the enemy.

Read my Margarine report for a full run down on margarine, its checkered history and ingredients. And as a little experiment why don’t you put a slab of butter and a package of margarine on top of a cupboard and forget about them for a couple of months and see what happens to them both. It is an interesting experiment which will make you wonder what is margarine – a food or a plastic.

The Heart Foundations tick of approval adorns foods that aren’t even foods but rather a bunch of chemicals disguised as food but with a low fat, low salt, high fibre, low calorie stamp of approval. Just check out the ingredients (not the nutrition label) on the following and see if you really think they are good for your health. Kellogs – Just Right, ProActiv margarine, Healthy Choice Meals, Farmers Own Milk, Diet Yoghurt and Birds Eye – chicken and vege patties, just to name a few.

In actual fact just look for the tick of approval and then read the disastrous ingredients. A good informative report to read is The Cholesterol Myth that relates to the latest information on some of the fats. We need to move away from the old Margarine argument and eat real food!

When new evidence has been steering away from links between cholesterol and saturated fat, and more towards other factors then I think that the Heart Foundation needs to let the public know.

Cyndi O’Meara
Nutritionist

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