买花生酱的时候要小心

来源: dudaan 于 2010-10-31 07:45:25 [档案] [博客] [旧帖] [给我悄悄话] 本文已被阅读：次 (3646 bytes)

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花生酱是美国最普通最廉价的食品之一。

我们这些老中来美国以后不容易在美国超市买到在中国常吃的芝麻酱，就用花生酱来代替。无论是涮羊肉还是凉拌菜，虽然味道略差但也将就了。而且大家对美国产品的质量和保质期等也都比较放心。但是其实有很大的问题。

首先，普通花生酱里都有加氢植物油。Hydrogenated vegetable oil.通常是加氢的菜籽油、棉籽油、豆油或者几种的混合。现在我们已经知道，加氢植物油含有反式脂肪酸，对身体有害。但是令人困惑的是，在花生酱的营养标签上，反式脂肪的含量为零。这是怎么回事？

我找到一篇文章：

Most of the major brands of peanut butter contain partially hydrogenated oils, which we recommend that you avoid (see report #N185.) Partially hydrogenated oils are solid at room temperature, so the peanut butter manufacturers use them to keep the oil from separating and to give their products a very long shelf life. They don't have to add very much partially hydrogenated oil, but it is there – look at the list of ingredients. They try to fool you because if the amount is less than .5 grams per serving, they can say "0 grams of trans fats" or "no trans fats." A serving of peanut butter is two tablespoons -- so they can put as much as 8 grams of trans fats in a 16-ounce jar and still attach a label that says "No Trans Fats"!.

If you think it's important to avoid trans fats, as we do, you will read the list of ingredients on every processed food you buy and put back any that include the words "partially hydrogenated" or "hydrogenated". For most peanut butter lovers, that meant a trip to a specialty store to get freshly-ground peanut butter or one of the smaller brands that contain only peanuts (and that's still a perfectly good solution.)

Most supermarkets now carry at least a few brands that don't contain partially hydrogenated oils. My current favorite is Smart Balance Omega Peanut Butter, which has the added bonus of omega-3 fatty acids, "good fats" that we all need.

You'll notice when you pick up a jar that there's about ½" of oil at the top. You need to stir this in before you use it. One caller said she pours it off -- but that doesn't really help anything and may make the peanut butter feel to stiff. (Peanuts are very high in fat even after you've poured off the oil, so if you're concerned about calories or total fat content, you're better off with another food.)

I hope that supermarkets are getting the message that we want choices that don't contain partially hydrogenated oils – in peanut butter and all other foods. If you can't find these peanut butter in your supermarket, go to the Customer Service desk and 1) ask if they carry any peanut butter without partially hydrogenated oils (they may be able to tell you where it is), and 2) if the answer is no, ask them to stock some. If you find any other brands of peanut butter stocked in supermarkets, let me know and I'll add them to my list.

简单的说这是个数字游戏，如果你吃一瓶花生酱(16盎司)，就会吃8克反式脂肪。

加氢植物油的好处是让酱和油不分离，吃的时候不必搅拌，另外是保质期长。如果和健康比起来，还是吃不加这种油的好。

有的厂家推出了Natural品种，仍然是油酱交融，不必搅拌，这又是怎么回事呢？仔细看，加了棕榈油，而棕榈油是最不健康的植物油之一。

另外，据说很多厂家会先将花生漂白bleaching，不知道为什么，这恐怕也不好。

所以，买的时候最好买未经漂白的(unbleached)纯花生酱，除了花生之外，什么都不加，价格也不贵，我们这儿的Trader Joe也就是两美元以内。

当然如果能买三美元左右的有机花生酱就更好了。

不过，纯花生酱和有机花生酱的保质期较短，不宜多买，建议随吃随买。