Are KitKats hydrogenated?

David Johnson said:

I'm trying to avoid trans fats in my diet, and I'm also
fond of KitKat bars. One of the listed ingredients is
"refined palm kernel oil". Does anyone know if "refined"
could potentially mean "hydrogenated"?

They probably contain some hydrogenated fats, since it helps
prevent melting of the chocolate. But occasional KitKat bars
aren't going to do any harm, even if they contain
hydrogenated fats. How many do you usually eat? Has your
doctor imposed any specific dietary restrictions?

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Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I'm trying to avoid trans fats in my diet, and I'm also
fond of KitKat

bars.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

One of the listed ingredients is "refined palm kernel
oil". Does anyone know if "refined" could potentially
mean "hydrogenated"?

They probably contain some hydrogenated fats, since it
helps prevent melting of the chocolate.

I suspected that might be the case as well, except that
cocoa butter is listed higher up in the ingredients listing.
So my suspicion is that cocoa butter is used to solidify the
chocolate coating, and the "refined" palm kernel oil is used
in the layers between the wafers. I'm just wondering whether
"refined" means the oil is somehow filtered, skimmed,
hydrogenated or processed in some other way. A mental image
of a Toxco refinery comes to mind... you'd think they'd
choose a better word to describe the way it's processed. :-)

Quoted message said:

But occasional KitKat bars aren't going to do any harm,
even if they contain hydrogenated fats. How many do you
usually eat? Has your doctor imposed any specific dietary
restrictions?

I usually only eat one bar a day, as dessert, but since no
amount of trans fats is safe, and since their detrimental
affects are cumulative, I make every effort to find
alternative snacks without them whenever possible. Since
this is a snack I enjoy, I'd rather not strike it off my
shopping list unnecessarily.

David Johnson said:

I suspected that might be the case as well, except that
cocoa butter is listed higher up in the ingredients
listing. So my suspicion is that cocoa butter is used to
solidify the chocolate coating, and the "refined" palm
kernel oil is used in the layers between the wafers.

Cocoa butter contributes texture and taste, but not
solidity. Pure cocoa butter is a yellowish vegetable fat
with a marvellously delicious scent that melts at less than
body temperature. At room temperature it is just barely
solid enough not to flow on its own. Chocolates that contain
lots of cocoa butter are often so melty that they cannot be
easily eaten.

Quoted message said:

I'm just wondering whether "refined" means the oil is
somehow filtered, skimmed, hydrogenated or processed in
some other way.

That would be my guess, although I don't really know.

Quoted message said:

I usually only eat one bar a day, as dessert, but since no
amount of trans fats is safe, and since their detrimental
affects are cumulative, I make every effort to find
alternative snacks without them whenever possible.

Sometimes the devil you know is safer than the devil you
don't know; in other words, I'm not convinced that
avoiding KitKats is really that important. One a day is
trivial. Worry more about what you're eating the rest of
the day (much of which may well contain some nasty stuff
of its own).

Quoted message said:

Since this is a snack I enjoy, I'd rather not strike it
off my shopping list unnecessarily.

I don't see any reason to strike it off at all.

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Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I suspected that might be the case as well, except that
cocoa butter is listed higher up in the ingredients
listing. So my suspicion is that

cocoa

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

butter is used to solidify the chocolate coating, and
the "refined" palm kernel oil is used in the layers
between the wafers.

Cocoa butter contributes texture and taste, but not
solidity. Pure cocoa butter is a yellowish vegetable fat
with a marvellously delicious scent that melts at less
than body temperature. At room temperature it is just
barely solid enough not to flow on its own. Chocolates
that contain lots of cocoa butter are often so melty that
they cannot be easily eaten.

That's not to say that hydrogenation is *required* in order
to provide a solid consistency to chocolate, though. Your
plain Hershey bar has none of the stuff, for instance.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I'm just wondering whether "refined" means the oil is
somehow filtered, skimmed, hydrogenated or processed in
some other way.

That would be my guess, although I don't really know.

Quoted message said:

I usually only eat one bar a day, as dessert, but since
no amount of

trans

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

fats is safe, and since their detrimental affects are
cumulative, I make every effort to find alternative
snacks without them whenever possible.

Sometimes the devil you know is safer than the devil you
don't know; in other words, I'm not convinced that
avoiding KitKats is really that important. One a day is
trivial. Worry more about what you're eating the rest of
the day (much of which may well contain some nasty stuff
of its own).

Quoted message said:

Since this is a snack I enjoy, I'd rather not strike it
off my shopping

list

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

unnecessarily.

I don't see any reason to strike it off at all.

You don't? Thanks for sharing your opinion. Just out of
curiosity, what is your area of profession or expertise on
the subject? I just want to put it in perspective.

David Johnson said:

That's not to say that hydrogenation is *required* in
order to provide a solid consistency to chocolate, though.
Your plain Hershey bar has none of the stuff, for
instance.

Cocoa powder itself is solid at room temperature, so if the
cocoa butter content is low, you don't need anything to keep
it solid. Dark chocolate is like this. Also, not having milk
in the chocolate keeps it more solid, I believe. There are
various ways of keeping it from melting in your hand, not in
your mouth.

Quoted message said:

You don't? Thanks for sharing your opinion. Just out of
curiosity, what is your area of profession or expertise on
the subject? I just want to put it in perspective.

I don't have a special area of expertise. If you want
expert, "official" advice, see a doctor. USENET isn't the
place to look for it.

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Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

> Since this is a snack I enjoy, I'd rather not strike
> it off my

shopping list

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

> unnecessarily.

I don't see any reason to strike it off at all.

You don't? Thanks for sharing your opinion. Just out of
curiosity,

what is

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

your area of profession or expertise on the subject? I
just want to put

it

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

in perspective.

I don't have a special area of expertise. If you want
expert, "official" advice, see a doctor. USENET isn't the
place to look for it.

The reason I asked is because I wasn't looking to be swayed
either way on the use of foodstuffs containing hydrogenated
oils - I was simply asking for a definition of "refined palm
kernel oil", in the context of hydrogenation, from those who
might know.

David Johnson said:

The reason I asked is because I wasn't looking to be
swayed either way on the use of foodstuffs containing
hydrogenated oils - I was simply asking for a definition
of "refined palm kernel oil", in the context of
hydrogenation, from those who might know.

A bit of searching around on the Web reveals that "refined"
and "hydrogenated" are not synonymous, so the fact that the
oil is refined doesn't necessarily mean that it is
hydrogenated, unless this is also explicitly stated.

But overall, I don't see it as much of a concern. Unless you
have very strict dietary restrictions imposed by your
doctor, a KitKat a day isn't going to make any difference to
your health.

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Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

The reason I asked is because I wasn't looking to be
swayed either way

on

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

the use of foodstuffs containing hydrogenated oils - I
was simply asking

for

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

a definition of "refined palm kernel oil", in the
context of

hydrogenation,

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

from those who might know.

A bit of searching around on the Web reveals that
"refined" and "hydrogenated" are not synonymous, so the
fact that the oil is refined doesn't necessarily mean that
it is hydrogenated, unless this is also explicitly stated.

While I agree that the labeling doesn't necessarily mean the
product uses hydrogenated oil, it still seems ambiguous. I
guess a better question would be whether it's legal for
hydrogenated oil to be labeled as "refined". Sometimes
clever wording is used, like as "vegetable fat" and
"margarine", to throw-off consumers looking for this
information.

Quoted message said:

But overall, I don't see it as much of a concern. Unless
you have very strict dietary restrictions imposed by your
doctor, a KitKat a day isn't going to make any difference
to your health.

From what I've read, as little as 2 grams daily intake of
trans fats is detrimental to human health. Another report
states that no amount of intake of trans fats is safe. The
nutrition facts label on the KitKat bar states 11 grams
total fat, of which 7 grams is saturated (1 bar = 1 serving,
and no mention of poly or mono). Therefore, if labeling
guidelines allow for trans fats to be labeled as "refined",
this means that up to 4 grams of trans fats are contained in
each bar. In neither case could this amount of daily intake
of trans fat be considered benign.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

The reason I asked is because I wasn't looking to be
swayed either way

on

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

the use of foodstuffs containing hydrogenated oils - I
was simply asking

for

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

a definition of "refined palm kernel oil", in the
context of

hydrogenation,

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

from those who might know.

A bit of searching around on the Web reveals that
"refined" and "hydrogenated" are not synonymous, so the
fact that the oil is refined doesn't necessarily mean that
it is hydrogenated, unless this is also explicitly stated.

While I agree that the labeling doesn't necessarily mean the
product uses hydrogenated oil, it still seems ambiguous. I
guess a better question would be whether it's legal for
hydrogenated oil to be labeled as "refined". Sometimes
clever wording is used, like as "vegetable fat" and
"margarine", to throw-off consumers looking for this
information.

Quoted message said:

But overall, I don't see it as much of a concern. Unless
you have very strict dietary restrictions imposed by your
doctor, a KitKat a day isn't going to make any difference
to your health.

From what I've read, as little as 2 grams daily intake of
trans fats is detrimental to human health. Another report
states that no amount of intake of trans fats is safe. The
nutrition facts label on the KitKat bar states 11 grams
total fat, of which 7 grams is saturated (1 bar = 1 serving,
and no mention of poly or mono). Therefore, if labeling
guidelines allow for trans fats to be labeled as "refined",
this means that up to 4 grams of trans fats are contained in
each bar. In neither case could this amount of daily intake
of trans fat be considered benign.

David Johnson said:

From what I've read, as little as 2 grams daily intake of
trans fats is detrimental to human health. Another report
states that no amount of intake of trans fats is safe.

Well, wait five years, and researchers will probably be
recommending trans-fat supplements.

Quoted message said:

The nutrition facts label on the KitKat bar states 11
grams total fat, of which 7 grams is saturated (1 bar = 1
serving, and no mention of poly or mono). Therefore, if
labeling guidelines allow for trans fats to be labeled as
"refined", this means that up to 4 grams of trans fats are
contained in each bar. In neither case could this amount
of daily intake of trans fat be considered benign.

It depends on what else you are eating, and more generally,
on your entire lifestyle. Do you smoke? Do you drink
alcohol? Are you overweight? And so on.

In my case, I worry mainly about total calories, but I don't
care where they come from. That's because my health is
threatened much more by excess weight than by anything
contained in my diet. And if I smoked, the main risk would
be from smoking. Etc.

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David Johnson said:

From what I've read, as little as 2 grams daily intake of
trans fats is detrimental to human health. Another report
states that no amount of intake of trans fats is safe.

Well, wait five years, and researchers will probably be
recommending trans-fat supplements.

Quoted message said:

The nutrition facts label on the KitKat bar states 11
grams total fat, of which 7 grams is saturated (1 bar = 1
serving, and no mention of poly or mono). Therefore, if
labeling guidelines allow for trans fats to be labeled as
"refined", this means that up to 4 grams of trans fats are
contained in each bar. In neither case could this amount
of daily intake of trans fat be considered benign.

It depends on what else you are eating, and more generally,
on your entire lifestyle. Do you smoke? Do you drink
alcohol? Are you overweight? And so on.

In my case, I worry mainly about total calories, but I don't
care where they come from. That's because my health is
threatened much more by excess weight than by anything
contained in my diet. And if I smoked, the main risk would
be from smoking. Etc.

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"David Johnson" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Hello,

I'm trying to avoid trans fats in my diet, and I'm also
fond of KitKat

bars.

Quoted message said:

One of the listed ingredients is "refined palm kernel
oil". Does anyone know if "refined" could potentially mean
"hydrogenated"?

Thanks in advance for any information from those who
might know.

-David

Refined does not mean hydrogenated. There is a food-grade
hydrogenated palm kernel oil, but it has one more processing
step than does refined palm kernel oil. The refining process
removes co-extractives, and bleaches and deodorizes the oil.
Refining can also mean that the oil is partially
fractionated. Palm kernel oil is mostly medium-chain
saturated fatty acids, with relatively small amounts of 18-
carbon mono- and di-unsaturates.

Lar

Quoted message said:

Refined does not mean hydrogenated. There is a food-grade
hydrogenated

palm

Quoted message said:

kernel oil, but it has one more processing step than does
refined palm kernel oil. The refining process removes co-
extractives, and bleaches and deodorizes the oil. Refining
can also mean that the oil is partially fractionated. Palm
kernel oil is mostly medium-chain saturated fatty

acids,

Quoted message said:

with relatively small amounts of 18-carbon mono- and di-
unsaturates.

Lar

Thanks very much for the post. This is just the kind of info
I was looking for.

David Johnson said:

I know you are being facetious, but the ill effects of
trans fats are pretty well established now.

Well, it used to be all fat. Then it was no fat. Then it was
only certain fats. Then it was only certain _other_ fats.
And so on.

The fact is, controlled studies are extremely difficult to
conduct in human beings, and often research depends a great
deal on circumstantial evidence, and confuses correlation
with causation.

Quoted message said:

Again, _no_amount_of_trans_fat_intake_is_safe_.

That is an exaggeration. Even cyanide is safe if the amount
of it ingested it small enough (really small).

Quoted message said:

Here's a hypothetical question - if the candy bar you
enjoyed eating had arsenic, instead of trans fat, and the
level was low enough not to cause any overt symptoms by
eating a bar a day, and you later discovered it contained
arsenic, would you still eat one every day? Of course not.

I don't know. Apples contain cyanide, but I still eat
apples. And of course a lot of people smoke, even though
just about everything in cigarette smoke is toxic (nicotine,
in particular, is one of the most toxic substances known).

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Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

From what I've read, as little as 2 grams daily intake
of trans fats is detrimental to human health. Another
report states that no amount of

intake

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

of trans fats is safe.

Well, wait five years, and researchers will probably be
recommending trans-fat supplements.

I know you are being facetious, but the ill effects of trans
fats are pretty well established now.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

The nutrition facts label on the KitKat bar states 11
grams total fat, of which 7 grams is saturated (1 bar =
1 serving,

and no

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

mention of poly or mono). Therefore, if labeling
guidelines allow for

trans

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

fats to be labeled as "refined", this means that up to 4
grams of trans

fats

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

are contained in each bar. In neither case could this
amount of daily intake of trans fat be considered
benign.

It depends on what else you are eating, and more
generally, on your entire lifestyle.

I would agree with this statement if the ratio of non-trans
to trans were important, or the ratio of non-trans calories
to trans calories were important... but they're not factors
here. Again, _no_amount_of_trans_fat_intake_is_safe_. And
again, it's not relative to total caloric intake, or
relative to how good or bad the other foods in the diet may
be, or relative to the other vices a person has.

Here's a hypothetical question - if the candy bar you
enjoyed eating had arsenic, instead of trans fat, and the
level was low enough not to cause any overt symptoms by
eating a bar a day, and you later discovered it contained
arsenic, would you still eat one every day? Of course not.
Same general principal.

I got the answer I was looking for from another poster, so
I'm done here.

Mxsmanic <[email hidden]> wrote:
: David Johnson writes:

: > That's not to say that hydrogenation is *required* in
: > order to provide a solid consistency to chocolate,
: > though. Your plain Hershey bar has none of the stuff,
: > for instance.

: Cocoa powder itself is solid at room temperature, so if
: the cocoa butter content is low, you don't need anything
: to keep it solid. Dark chocolate is like this. Also, not
: having milk in the chocolate keeps it more solid, I
: believe. There are various ways of keeping it from melting
: in your hand, not in your mouth.

Does dark chocolate have less fat than milk chocolate?

Emma

Chunky KitKat 282 calories, 15.2g fat

Two-thirds chocolate, so reasonably sustaining. Again free
from hydrogenated fats found in caramel and nougat fillings.

5/10 50% MORE FAT THAN A MARS

David Johnson said:

Hello,

I'm trying to avoid trans fats in my diet, and I'm also
fond of KitKat bars. One of the listed ingredients is
"refined palm kernel oil". Does anyone know if "refined"
could potentially mean "hydrogenated"?

Thanks in advance for any information from those who
might know.

-David

Emma Chase VanCott said:

Does dark chocolate have less fat than milk chocolate?

Yes. The fat is mostly in the cocoa butter and milk, both of
which are far less present in dark chocolate.

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