Difference between hydrogenated and non-hydrogenated fat?

diogomello12 wrote: »

Are they equally bad?

I'm reading the back of this chocolate bar that I bought for myself and I wanted to know more about "non-hydrogenated vegetable fat". I believe it has something to do with palm oils?

Also the difference between hydrogenated and NON-hydrogenated fats?

Thank you!

It has nothing specifically to do with palm oils. In fact, compared to other vegetable oils, palm oil is fairly high in saturated fats, so I'm not sure what the point of hydrogenating it would be. My understanding is that hydrogenation is only (by definition) done to unsaturated fats, although fats in food are mixtures of saturated fats and unsaturated fats, so I suppose you could hydrogenate the relatively small amount of unsaturated fats in palm oil.

Hydrogenated fats are fats that are normally liquid (oils) at room temperature, but which have had hydrogen atoms added so that they will be solid (that is, a consistency like shortening or butter) at room temperature. This might be done to get a desired texture in the finished commercial product while using a cheaper ingredient than was traditionally used in home or artisanal cooking (i.e., the traditional version might have used butter or lard, both solids at room temperature, but the commercial version uses much cheaper hydrogenated vegetable fat to achieve a similar texture). Hydrogenated vegetable fats will also generally have a longer shelf life than the nonhydrogenated (i.e., be less likely to go rancid).

You may be more familiar with the term trans fat. Hydrogenated fats are a type of trans fat, and studies have indicated a connection between trans fats and high cholesterol and cardiovascular disease.

I'm guessing the manufacturer just wants to reassure you by using the term non-hydrogenated. Non means not. They're not hydrogenated fats. The manufacturer probably realizes there is confusion on the issue of fats, and is worried that some people might think that all vegetable fats are hydrogenated, so it is going out of its way to say "the vegetable fats in this chocolate bar aren't hydrogenated. Nothing to worry about here."

Personally, I would look for a chocolate bar that doesn't list "vegetable fat" on the ingredient list, but that's a matter of taste, not a matter of health. Cocoa beans contain cocoa fat, which happens to be another plant fat that is relatively high in saturated fat, and thus solid or semi-solid at room temperature, so it works just fine to make a chocolate bar that is solid at room temperature. I think chocolate made with cocoa fat tastes better than chocolate that has had some or all of the cocoa fat replaced with some other fat, like palm oil.