Re: Lard: Fat of the future

In article <cjfullerSPAMORAMA-8A97E3.08404112082005@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
Cindy Fuller <cjfullerSPAMORAMA@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>There's an op-ed piece in today's NY Times by Corby Kummer. Since the
>NYC Health Commissioner has sent letters to restaurants recommending
>eliminating shortening as a cooking/baking fat, Kummer's recommending
>lard as a substitute. This is not without scientific merit. Lard has a
>relatively low percentage of saturated fat and high percentage of
>monounsaturated fat for an animal product.

I think it has trans-fats however.

You don't need lard when palm oil is available (NOT palm kernel oil,
but palm oil). Spectrum Naturals makes organic vegetable shortening
from organic palm oil. It's available at Whole Foods Market. Palm
oil is naturally solid at room temperature without hydrogenation, it
has NO trans fats, no cholesterol, has 40% less saturated fat than
palm kernel oil, and it cooks and bakes just like real shortening.
On the other hand, it's nearly half saturated fats.

>The problem comes in finding unprocessed lard. The shelf-stable
>stuff sold in grocery stores is usually hydrogenated, defeating the
>purpose.

Yup. Unprocessed lard may (I don't know) have lower saturated fat
than palm oil, but if you want to avoid shortening and unprocessed
lard isn't available, then palm oil is the way to go. As I said,
it's not hydrogenated.

-A
.