Although the law now requires food labeling to list the amount of trans fats per serving, anything less than 0.5 grams can be listed as zero. Should companies be required to list ANY amount of trans fats in their products?

Yes.
22
85%
No.
4
15%
 
Total votes: 26

Jan 25th, '07, 22:47
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How do you pronounce...

by snuvidkid » Jan 25th, '07, 22:47

Does anybody know how to pronounce "sinensis" in "camellia sinensis". I've tried finding it online but can't.

Another question has nothing to do with tea, but does anybody know of a place online that sells gourmet hot cocoa mix? I'm about as picky with my cocoa as I am with my tea. Or if anybody knows a good homemade recipe to make hot cocoa that'd be good too. I've noticed the stuff I buy in the stores has that partionally hydrogenated junk which = trans fats and I would like a healthier mix.

Speaking of all the rage of trans fats these days I am in a group in one of my classes and we are writing a paper over whether or not trans fats should be banned in commercial food products. Does anybody also know whether or not tea can help remove trans fats from the body? Also, some people don't know that if a food contains less than 0.5 grams of trans fat per serving it can be listed as having zero grams of trans fats. Knowing that, please take a mere 2 seconds to answer my poll question.

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Jan 26th, '07, 00:21
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by Mary R » Jan 26th, '07, 00:21

Latin and latinized words have no real "set" pronounciation as Latin is a dead language and nobody really knows for sure. When I was taking my biodiversity courses, the instructor even gave us multiple pronounciations for a few different things. And hearing the Russian prof say them? Well, thank God he relied on powerpoints.

I usually hear it like this: "Sin" as in the thing you'll go to hell for, "en" like saying the letter 'N,' and "sis" as in 'sister.' Alternately, some say the first syllable like "sine" as in the sine wave. I don't think it particularly matters either way.

Jan 26th, '07, 09:53
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by larkwillow » Jan 26th, '07, 09:53

If you want real gourmet hot chocolate, forget "mixes."

Buy a can of pure 100 percent pure natural cocoa--I recommend Hersheys--and follow the hot cocoa recipe on the can. I use two heaping teaspoons of sugar and one heaping teaspoon of cocoa to one cup of milk. Mix the cocoa and sugar together, add a very small amount of hot water and mix until it's a smooth liquid. Then fill the cup with milk, and heat either in a pan or in the microwave--I find that just over two minutes in the microwave is perfect, but YMMV. Some people like to add a dash of vanilla.

Hot chocolate doesn't get better than that.

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Jan 26th, '07, 10:11
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by Mary R » Jan 26th, '07, 10:11

Here's a recipe for the hot chocolate my friends and I served at all our college Christmas parties. It's decadant, which is why we relegated it to the holidays.

1 1/4 cups bittersweet chocolate, chopped (best quality can find)
6 cups milk (fattier the better)
3/4 tsp pure vanilla extract
3/4 cup Bailey's Irish Cream liquor

Heat milk gently over medium heat until it is steaming and *beginning* to bubble. Do NOT let it ever reach a boil. Remove from heat and stir in chocolate. Return to stove, whisk continuously over low heat until chocolate melts. Stir in the vanilla and Bailey's. Consume with glee.

We also made a variation using a lesser quality chocolate, skim milk, and a *pinch* of cayenne. We left out the Bailey's and added a little more milk (or a little less chocolate) to taste. It's amazing what the cayenne does. Mmmm....

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Jan 26th, '07, 12:41
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by Drae » Jan 26th, '07, 12:41

That's good to know. I also found it curious that a package of gum I had listed the calories at <5, but had a note that it was actually 3.5 Apparently, if it's between 0 and 5, but not exactly 0, then it has to be 5? Don't know.

But as for the trans fats thing, it's so easy for companies to bring their serving size down so that the trans fat would be .5g/serving (but a typical "portion size" has you eating several "servings"). I hate that kind of ticky tack stuff. Gah.

Jan 28th, '07, 15:52
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by kissmyhuman » Jan 28th, '07, 15:52

http://coffeetea.about.com/od/chocolate ... ecipes.htm

About.com has some good cocoa recipes and I'd also check food.com. The main constituents seem to be either good cocoa powder or mixes of melted unsweetened and bittersweet chocolate, etc.

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Jan 28th, '07, 22:50
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by TeaFanatic » Jan 28th, '07, 22:50

Speaking on the trans fat issue, first of all I think that companies should be forced to label any trans fat that their product contains, but I do not agree with the entire removal of trans fats from products, because I don't think that can be entirely done nor should it.

I think that if companies want to use trans fats in their product it should be allowed.

I'm not sure if tea removes them, but I'd be willing to bet no.
"Make tea not war"

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Jan 29th, '07, 09:11
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by Chip » Jan 29th, '07, 09:11

OK...the food industry has known about the pitfalls of trans fat...aka, hydronated oil for many years. Heart patients have been directed away from the use of these products since the 1980's at least. Yet they chose to do nothing about altering their recipes for years...until product labeling made it easier for the average consumer to identify products containing this "toxic substance."

The labeling loophole guidelines were a cave in brought on by lobbiests for the food industry. They are shrewd...make no mistake...this loophole was NO MISTAKE!!! The food industry is run by food giants like Kraft and Nabisco...do you think this company is truly concerned about the average Joe's health. Well, consider this, Phillip Morris owns these 2 companies in addition to many other food brands...did they ever lie to the American public about the hazzards of smoking...

I guess you can say I am quite opposed to the loophole.

Taking this a step further...I support cities like New York attempting to ban the use of trans fat in food prepared in restuarants...until you can get a list of all ingredients used in food prep at all restuarants, the public has a right to know that what they are eating either does or does not contain trans fat. This will never happen. So the next alternative is to ban its use in the prep of food at restuarants.

Come to think of it, why manufacture trans fat/hydrogenated oil at all????? Will the wheels of industry grind to a halt if we stop making the stuff?

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Jan 31st, '07, 04:04
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by EvenOdd » Jan 31st, '07, 04:04

Will the wheels of industry grind to a halt? Not exactly.

There are two reasons why partially hydrogenated oils and high fructose corn syrup are so integrated into processed foods these days. It's cheap to make and has a long shelf life.

Taking unsaturated oils and making them saturated causes the fat to be more stable and less prone to going stale or bad. The sources of naturally saturated fats come from animals, coconut oil and palm oil which are expensive. It's cheaper to make it from sources like vegetable oil (think Crisco).

High fructose corn syrup is a similar demon.

It's all unregulated capitalism in the works.

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