Thomas Chipman™

FAQs

Why is using non hydrogenated oil important?

Food factories create hydrogenated fat by cooking liquid vegetable oils at very high temperatures and pressures. Machines pump hydrogen into this brew, along with a metal catalyst, often nickel. The hydrogen gas fills in the missing hydrogen bonds on the oil molecule, turning the liquid oil into a solid or semi-solid form.

This process is used to increase the stability of the oil, unfortunately this process also creates high levels of trans fat which increases the level of bad LDL cholesterol and decreases the concentration of good HDL cholesterol.
Recent studies suggest that trans fat are significantly worse for our health than Saturated fats.

One day, hydrogenated fats and oils will be conclusively linked to heart attacks, strokes, high blood pressure, clogged arteries, at the least. One day, studies may also link obesity, lethargy and chronic pain to the consumption of hydrogenated fat.

A plethora of new studies, and a new labeling law in the United States, promise to raise awareness among consumers. A 2005 report in the Australian Choice smart living magazine has reinforced the dangers to our health of trans fat adding that, “Consistently it turns out that the more trans fat people eat, the more likely they’ll end up with heart disease”.

According to the Harvard Medical School, the chemicals found in hydrogenated fats may be responsible for as many as 100,000 premature deaths per year, in the western world alone. The evidence against trans fat is so strong that Denmark has banned the sale of food products in which trans fat is more than 2% of the total fat content.

The oil used to cook Thomas Chipman corn chips is certified to be non hydrogenated, and independent laboratory tests in Australia show the trans fat level of our finished product to be an negligible 0.024% per 100g of chips.