Question

Hydrogenation is used by food manufacturers to increase shelf life of food and create different textures in fats. 1. Explain the chemical process of hydrogenation. 2. From a consumers point of view what are the disadvantages. 3. List two common food sources of hydrogenated fat (not natural trans fat).

Answer 1

1. Hydrogenation is a process that involves the addition of Hydrogen ions to unsaturated foods to improve oxidative stability. This reaction occurs in the presence of a catalyst(These compounds speed up the reaction process), commonly used catalysts are platinum and nickel.

It is important to increase the shelf-life of foods.

2.

The disadvantages of Hydrogenated foods are-

Hydrogenated foods contains saturated fats and trans fats, which is very harmful to our body. Theses fats lower our HDL (High-density lipoprotein) and raises our LDL (Low-density Lipoprotein) and makes us prone to Cardiovascular disease and diabetes.

HDL is known as good cholesterol which clears our blood vessels and LDL is known as bad cholesterol which increases the risk of plaque formation in our blood vessels.

3.

Common sources of hydrogenated fats are

frozen pizza, cookies, fried foods, and canned foods.