Your coffee and saturated fat

A non-profit organization has warned that some coffee creamers are likely to carry hidden calories and trans fat, which is harmful to the heart. The Center for Science in the Public Interest released the results of its study on several popular brands of coffee creamers earlier this week week in Washington.

The organization said multiple cups of office coffee drank during the working day could mean consuming half of the allowable daily intake of saturated fat.

The labels on the coffee creamers may give you the impression that they contain little quantities of these substances. In fact, the label on Nestlé Original Coffee-mate powder may say it has only 10 calories and 0.5 grams of saturated fat. But Nestlé told the research team that a serving (1 teaspoon) of the powder actually has 14.83 calories, which is rounded down to 10, and 0.99 grams of saturated fat, which is rounded down to 0.5 grams.

The Nestlé Fat-Free Original Coffee-mate powder label says it contains just 10 calories and zero saturated or trans fat. In fact, it has the same 14.83 calories, again rounded to 10 calories, and 0.27 grams of saturated fat, which is rounded down to 0 grams. Labeling standards apparently allow product makers to round to zero if the food contains less than 0.5 grams of a fat component.

You may think the quantities are so small as to be inconsequential. Think again.

The serving size (a level teaspoon) indicated on coffee creamer labels can whiten only 6 ounces of coffee — no more than the contents of a teacup. You normally don’t drink coffee from a teacup.

A mug of coffee usually holds 8-12 ounces, and most people are likely to use 2 tablespoons for a 12-ounce drink. That means they’re also downing about 1.6 grams of saturated fat. If a person drinks 3 mugs of coffee a day, he or she is consuming nearly 5 grams of the fat.

Some liquid coffee creamers have 0.46 grams of trans fat and 0.31 grams of saturated fat, but since each number is rounded down to zero, the label will say 0 grams.

Trans fat is a partially hydrogenated oil of, e.g., soybean or canola, or some other oil. It is dangerous to health because it tends to clog up arteries and thus raises the risk of heart attacks. Health experts recommend that a person should not consume more than 2 grams of trans fat a day; the less consumed the better.

Safety Tip:
* If a label says zero trans fat, try looking for partially hydrogenated oil. This means the food contains trans fat.