Tag: Vegetable shortening

For decades, shortening was marketed as a healthier alternative to lard, but modern science has flipped this idea on its head. Choosing between shortening and lard involves weighing factors like processing, fat composition, and culinary results to determine which is truly worse for your health and cooking.

According to the American Heart Association, replacing bad fats with good ones is a smart choice for heart health. This is why the question of is oil or shortening healthier is so important, as each fat impacts your body differently. Liquid vegetable oils are generally a more heart-healthy choice than solid fats like shortening.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) banned partially hydrogenated oils (the primary source of trans fats) in 2020, prompting manufacturers to reformulate products like shortening. This shift raises a crucial question: is using shortening bad for you, even with trans fats removed?

According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), partially hydrogenated oils (PHOs) were no longer considered 'generally recognized as safe' as of 2015, but a classic example of a hydrogenated cooking oil is vegetable shortening. This food product is created by adding hydrogen to liquid vegetable oils, a process that makes the final product solid at room temperature.

Vegetable fats and oils are triglycerides extracted from various plant sources, but what is vegetable fat called when it's sold at the store? The term depends on its physical state at room temperature: liquid versions are 'vegetable oils,' while solid or semi-solid versions are often labeled as 'vegetable fat,' 'vegetable shortening,' or used in products like margarine.

Until the early 20th century, lard was the most common type of shortening used in baking. For those seeking a plant-based alternative, the question "what is vegetable lard called?" is common, and the answer is vegetable shortening. This versatile fat offers many culinary benefits for modern kitchens.

Crisco's original formulation, introduced in 1911, was made with partially hydrogenated oil, creating trans fats that are now considered harmful to heart health. The question, 'Does Crisco have hydrogenated oil?', is more complex today, as manufacturers have reformulated products to address these health concerns.

Over the last century, trans fats in partially hydrogenated oils were linked to thousands of heart disease deaths, which fundamentally reshaped the health conversation around cooking fats. Today, comparing whether vegetable shortening or lard is healthier involves a deeper look into their processing, fatty acid profiles, and culinary applications beyond outdated beliefs.

Five Guys publicly states that their famous fries are cooked exclusively in 100% refined peanut oil. However, this doesn't fully answer the question: does 5 Guys use seed oils in all of its food, and what does this mean for different dietary preferences?

Globally, industrially produced trans fat consumption contributes to hundreds of thousands of deaths annually. The hydrogenation process, solidifying liquid vegetable oils to create products like margarine and shortening, is a major source of this risk. This chemical transformation is the key to understanding the change of state.