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firedrgn2000

The first four ingredients of the Cool Whip Free are: Water, Corn Syrup (read: sugar), Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil (read: trans fats), High Fructose Corn Syrup (read: sugar again).

What Does Fat Free Mean?
Surprise! It doesn't mean "free of fat".

Fat free or trans-fat free means that there is less than half a gram of fat or trans fat per serving. It could be .49 gram and be considered zero. Note that the serving size is important. With both of these products, the serving size is two tablespoons. This may or may not be what is in a serving of whatever recipe you are using. If there is .49 grams of trans fat in two tablespoons of the Cool Whip, and the recipe ends up giving you half a cup of the stuff, you've basically got 2 grams of transfat (the worst kind of fat for you).

Whenever you see "trans fat free" on a label, you should look at the ingredient list. If you see "partially hydrogenated oil", that is trans fat. If you see "hydrogenated oil", that is most probably trans fat. If you see "fully hydrogenated oil", that is supposed to be very low in trans fats.

(Get more information about trans fats from About's Nutrition Guide and About's Low Fat Cooking Guide.)

In the case of the Cool Whip, the first ingredient is water, but there is probably even more of an important ingredient in whipped topping: air. If they can whip enough air into it, the amount of everything else in a serving goes down. But the minute the topping starts to deflate, the MORE of everything else there is in the two tablespoon serving size.
What About the Carbs?
With all that corn syrup, you can bet there's added sugar in these products, and there is - 3 grams per 2 tablespoon serving. That can add up very fast if you're not careful. Note that zero carbohydrates on a food label means that the serving has less than one gram of carb (it could be .999 grams carb, but it still can be listed as "zero"). But these products have much more than that.

Should you use products such as this? I think you just have to be aware of what you are eating and how much of it. I personally avoid anything with trans fats and added sugars. But if there is a recipe you want to try for a special occasion, a little bit isn't going to kill you.

kmjudge

Being educated is the best thing you can do for your body. Food is fuel, everything in moderation, and eat fresh and organic are always good rules to live by.