DiscussionsKid-Friendly Fun in the Kitchen

It's my son's 6th birthday and my wife gets home from the grocery store with some Pillsbury frosting for his cake. After opening the container I glanced at the nutrition label and noticed that in 2 tablespoons there's 1.5g of TRANS FAT in the frosting! Sure enough in the ingredients I find the partially hydrogenated oils listed. Had I not opened the frosting I would've taken the frosting back to the store but instead the only thing I could do was throw the whole thing away. 

Given the countless known health hazards associated with trans fats, what could possibly justify a business decision to put this stuff in your products and sell it to your customers?

Augie

did you email pillsbury about your concern? i would call them and ell hem of your experience and ask for a refund since you can't return it to the store..  their 800 number should be on the package.

lrubinson:

did you email pillsbury about your concern? i would call them and ell hem of your experience and ask for a refund since you can't return it to the store..  their 800 number should be on the package.

No I didn't email Pillsbury. I really didn't see the point since they obviously are aware of what they put into their products. I was more shocked and disappointed at not only discovering the trans fat but just how much is one serving. 

I was doing the same thing and was disgusted to see the exact same thing! I just got off the phone and spoke with a VERY rude woman. She said that trans fat is important for a good recipe and there is nothing else they can use! I said that I was concerned because of how terrible trans fat is. She said ok and asked if she could help me with anything else.

I then called (while I was writing this) General Mills (Betty Crocker) because I noticed that the cup cakes I just made were from there and also had trans fat. The guy I spoke with seemed to care and said (as like pillsbury) the only cake mix they had that was trans fat free is the angel food. He will  voice my opinion to the company and valued my suggestion.

Pillsbury work on your recipes and customer service!

Part of the problem with convenience foods is the reliance on processed products.  The frosting uses a "shortening" rather than butter so that it is shelf stable.  If you wish to make frosting at home you can avoid the trans fats by using butter in your frosting. 
Products like cookies, biscuits, crackers... all use trans fats to give that "buttery" taste and great mouth feel and moistness that we have all become so used to.
Manufacturers have gotten around some of the trans fat issue by refiguring the serving size so that the per serving gram amount is below the amount that the goverment has determined what has to be on the label.  So now rather than 4 cookies being a serving the recommended serving size might be 2.  If you look on the label there are still trans fats in the ingredient list.

Begin to cut back on processed foods to reduce the consumption of trans fats.  Contact manufacturers and start to request that they be removed.  Not just refiguring the serving size but actually removing them.  But we will have to accept products that may be more expensive, not last as long, not have that flavor we have come to love so much.

Start making more home made items.  Dig out grandmas recipe box.  But are you willing to use lard in a pastry crust rather than Crisco?  You are trading trans fats for a higher cholesterol product.  Only you can figure out what you are willing to trade.
I think I will step down off my soap box now.

Thank goodness for your soapbox, as you present a truly fair and balanced view.  I work in a bakery where we struggle to ensure the healthiest products we can.  It is not always simple to eliminate trans fat from products that are expected to keep for longer than a few days.  I secretly use less shortening than our recipes call for, but I cannot eliminate it completely due to volume concerns.  If someone knows of a product that addresses the mouth feel and stabilization issues without trans fat, I'd be happy to use it and shout it from the rooftops.  

In my experience, the same people who express outrage about trans fat are usually the same ones who express outrage in the changes that come when you eliminate them.  Know that if there were a suitable substitute, it would be standard among your finer bakeries and product developers.

YES, I TO AM FRUSTERATED AT WHAT THE GOVERNMENT ALLOWS COMPANIES TO PUT IN PRODUCTS AND ON THE SHELVES IN THE GROCERY STORES! SO MANY HEALTH RISKS ASSOCIATED! I AM ON A SOAPBOX ABOUT HOTDOGS AND THE LINKS ASSOCIATED TO LEUKEMIA! BUT THERE ARE TOXIC CHEMICALS IN SOOO MANY PRODUCTS! LOOK AT YOUR SHAMPOO FOR INSTANCE! DO ALITTLE RESEARCH ON THE CHEMICALS IN THAT! IT WILL MAKE YOUR HEAD SPIN LITERALLY! IT IS TIME WE SAY "ENOUGH!" IT IS TIME WE TAKE A STAND FOR OURSELVES AND OUR KIDS!

Educate and share.  You are a role model for your son.  He's watching what food you put in your mouth.  70% of desease is from the food we are eating. 

9 serving a day of fresh raw fruits and vegetables with put you on the path of prevention.

jo

"what the gov't allows companies to put in products"?  Do you really want Congress and the lobbyists determining what we are 'allowed' to eat, what ingredients are 'allowed' to be used in cake mix, frosting, peanut butter, ice cream, etc.?  Let the consumer decide by voting with their dollars.  If you don't want trans fat in frosting, for gawd's sake--don't buy it!  How about some personal responsibility here--read the labels IN THE STORE and make your purchases accordingly.  I'd be just as worried about the high sugar content in the frosting as the trans fat anyway.  Frosting is not exactly known for its nutritional value to begin with!  Besides, a birthday cake is an occasional treat--a few grams of trans fat once in a while won't do you in, a steady diet of it will.  It's up to the individual to control what he or she eats, not the gov't, not even the food manufacturers.  Grow up people.  Be adults and accept responsibility for what you consume.  As long as foods are labeled accurately, it's the individual who bears ultimate responsibility for what he/she consumes.

Thank you, grandma ikki, brandonjaye, and The_Huntress_.  It boils down to "convenience".  We want everything NOW.  We must always pay the price for the convenience of someone else doing the work so we can have it now.  Using common sense will help steer all of us in the direction each individual needs to go.  Hugs to everyone. ldbayou 

Amen, sister!

Hi Everyone: Thank you for taking the time to post on our boards! Pillsbury sold off that part of the business. It was sold to International Multifoods which in turn was sold to Smuckers. You can find a more direct site with the product here: http://www.pillsburybaking.com/ Sincerely, CateC

I have been meaning to write to you all for some time now.  I grew up eating Pillsbury, and am so sas to say that I no longer buy ANYTHING for me or my family that is Pillsbury.  My 9 yr old son is so upset that he has eaten his last toaster strudel.  Trans fat is the worst thing available in food today.  In fact it is so bad, that there isn't a recommended daily value for it.  The daily amount you should have is ZERO.  It is a synthetic fat that our bodies don't know how to process, and I have not picked up ANY pillsbury product that does not have hrdrogenated or partially hydrogenated oils.  Yes, there ARE alternatives, and honestly you are better off using lard that trans fats.  You use it because it's cheap and it keeps things "moist" at room temperature.  Products like Grands, the pizza crust, cake mixes, frosting, toaster strudels, etc ALL have trans fat...even when they say NO trans fat.  Read the ingredients, folks because they don't have to disclose it on the values unless it's more than a half gram per serving, but your body stores all of this in your bloodstream because it doesn't know what to do with it.  Tri-glycerides elevated?  Anyway, Pillsbury, I truly wish that your board of directors would have a pardigm shift on this trans fat staple in all of your foods.  I don't mind the fat...just not trans fats.

Good for you for throwing the frosting away.  The ingredients list does not lie.  You wont be able to find a frosting made without Transfats.  Make it from scratch with real butter.  You'll use less and it will be healthier.

Let food be your medicine.  Ask yourself does what I eating (and my family) building us up or tearing us down.  Take baby steps to making healthier choices. 

jo