Trans fats and Trex ?

morganlefay

Please can someone tell me if Trex is made of Bad Trans fats or is it OK ? I made some of the best mince pies and they are really wonderful, but then I thought 'This is too good to be true'. Is the Trex hideously bad, I've never used it before and can't interpret the limited info on the box ?

thriftlady_2

I would assume it is made of hydrogenated vegetable oil, but it should state that on the ingredients list.

Ticklemouse

Have a read of this

HTH

In a nut-shell - the hydrogenated fats have been removed from the 4 "leading brands" of white fats

morganlefay

Thanks so much Ticklemouse - that's really good. Now we just have to decide whether to believe them, but they can't be telling porkies about somethng like that can they ? Those mince pies are fabulous and I shall make that pastry again - it doesn't need resting and melts in the mouth. I'd have been sad to discover that I CAN now make pastry only to find that the ingredients are likely to kill us all. Hoorah ! And thanks again:beer:

Penelope_Penguin

Just taken a look at Trex, and it is indeed made of hydrogenated vegetable oils. However, this doesn't necessarily mean trans fats. I think that Princes won't be fibbing about such a thing on their website. There are strict rules about what you can and can't say about food.

Morgan, do you use only Trex for your mince pie pastry, no yellow fat?

Penny. x

Ticklemouse

How old of your Trex Penny? I seem to remember last xmas time we had a similar discussion. I wouldn't use it because of the HVO's but if the newest batches have had them removed, then maybe I will. Is yours in a paper or the new foil wraps? The new ones are in foil apparently.

dannahaz

Hmm. I bought a packet of Trex two days ago from Sainsburys. The sell by date is Nov 07. Yesterday I got it out to make pastry, and I noticed that the ingredients list (in the long side) is "Vegetable Oils, Hydrogenated Vegetable Oils".

Looks like their new stock, which should have hit the shelves in October, didn't quite reach Sainsburys in Staines.

I'm very cross with myself for not reading the packet before buying it.

Penelope_Penguin

dannahaz wrote:

Hmm. I bought a packet of Trex two days ago from Sainsburys. The sell by date is Nov 07. Yesterday I got it out to make pastry, and I noticed that the ingredients list (in the long side) is "Vegetable Oils, Hydrogenated Vegetable Oils".

ticklemouse wrote:

How old of your Trex Penny? I seem to remember last xmas time we had a similar discussion. I wouldn't use it because of the HVO's but if the newest batches have had them removed, then maybe I will. Is yours in a paper or the new foil wraps? The new ones are in foil apparently.

As I said before, just because an oil is hydrogenated, doesn't necessarily mean it contains trans fats. It'll do this by making the cross linking of the fat molecules cis rather than trans (cis-fats rather than trans-fats). If there is no hydrogenation, the vegetable oil remains liquid.

Levels of trans-fats can depend on:

1. The catalyst used for the hydrogenation

2. The method of hydrogenation

3. Any purification used

Vegetable oils are liquids. To make them solid, they need to be hydrogenated. Palm oil is described as "semi-solid" but use of this is a major environmental issue.

Your alternative is to use animal fat (lard, butter) which is naturally solid and hard, but has its own associated health risks.

Further info available here.

Penny. x

dannahaz

Thanks PenPen

Something isn't right though. The Cookeen I bought does NOT list HVO as an ingredient, and the Princes website (thanks Ticklemouse) states that Cookeen, Trex, (and the others) will no longer have HVO in.

My Cookeen came in a foil wrapper, the Trex is in a carboard box. Reading Ticklemouse's post and the Prionces website again, I should have waited to find Trex in foil wrapping too. I'll look out for it next time I am in the supermarket.

thriftlady_2

I'm very pleased to see that Trex and Cookeen are dumping the HVOs. Thanks Ticklemouse and Pen Pen for the info. I remember using Trex at school for pastry (we did a trial using all sorts of different fats - can't remember which was best). However I shall still leave it on the shelf with all the other marges as it is still a highly processed product. Give me lard and butter every time:)

taplady

I have made pastry using just Trex too and it lovely, Trans fats or not I'm still going to use it as its the best pastry I've ever made.I eat healthily most of the time so I dont expect a little:o :rolleyes: will hurt me!
I havent seen it in the foil wrapper yet.