Food Guide Facts: Background for Educators and Communicators

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4. A Closer Look at Fat

This fact sheet highlights how the Food Guide supports a decrease in fat intake for Canadians.

The Nutrition Recommendations for Canadians state that "The Canadian diet should include no more than 30% of energy as fat and no more than 10% as saturated fat." Eating patterns that are high in fat are associated with a higher incidence of heart disease and certain types of cancer. The strongest link is between saturated fat intake and heart disease. When the Nutrition Recommendations were released, data from 1986 showed that Canadians got 38% of their daily energy from fat and 13% of energy was in the form of saturated fat. More recently, studies show a downward trend in fat consumption.

Types of Fat

The fat found in food includes a mixture of saturated, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids. The proportions of these fatty acids in food varies. Meat and Milk Products are higher in saturated fat whereas most vegetable oils are higher in unsaturated fat. Dietary cholesterol may also be part of the fat found in food, but is found only in foods of animal origin.

There is a high level of interest and concern about cholesterol among consumers. However, confusion arises when the distinction is not made between blood cholesterol and dietary cholesterol.

Keeping blood cholesterol under control is a key factor in reducing the risk of heart disease and stroke. From a dietary perspective, the key strategy for controlling blood cholesterol is to reduce the intake of total fat and, specifically, saturated fat.

dietary cholesterol, or the cholesterol found in foods, is not the main influence on blood cholesterol level, although it has some effect, in some people.

Key Message on Fat

From Canada's Guidelines for Healthy Eating, the key fat message to consumers is to: Choose lower-fat dairy products, leaner meats and foods prepared with little or no fat. By making these lower-fat choices more often, consumers will lower total fat intake and, in doing so, will also lower saturated fat intake.

Food Preparation and Fat

Food preparation methods can add significant amounts of fat. For example:

• Bread becomes higher in fat when it is generously spread with butter or margarine.
• Vegetables become sources of fat when breaded or fried or served with cream sauce, sour cream or butter.
• Lean meat, poultry and fish become higher-fat choices once they are fried or served with gravy or other high-fat sauces.

Food preparation methods can also reduce fat. For example, consumers can:

• trim visible fat from meats and poultry;
• drain fat from cooked ground meat;
• remove skin from poultry;
• roast or broil meat, allowing the fat to drip off;
• reduce the oil or fat called for in recipes;
• use lower-fat yogourt instead of sour cream in recipes; and
• use milk instead of cream in recipes.

How the Food Guide Promotes the Lower Fat Message

Through its key directional statement, the Food Guide encourages consumers to: Choose lower-fat foods more often.

Higher-fat food choices can also be part of a healthy eating pattern when used in moderation.

Grain Products
Grain Products are naturally low in fat. It is only when Grain Products are combined with higher-fat ingredients as in the preparation of baked goods and some cereals that they become higher-fat choices.

Higher-fat Grain Products to eat in moderation: cookies, cakes, danish pastries, pie crust, doughnuts, croissants, higher-fat crackers, granola-type cereals and higher-fat muffins.

Vegetables & Fruit
As with Grain Products, there is an increased emphasis on eating more
Vegetables & Fruit which are naturally low in fat. (Avocado is an exception.)

Higher-fat Vegetables & Fruit to eat in moderation: vegetables in cream sauces, topped with butter or margarine, or prepared in pastry; fried vegetables like french fries, onion rings, breaded zucchini; and fruit served with cream.

Milk Products
Milk Products can be a major source of fat. This is why the directional statement choose lower-fat milk products more often appears on the Food Guide.

There are many lower-fat Milk Products from which to choose more often. For example:

• skim, 1% and 2% milk; skim and 2% evaporated milk;
• cottage cheese and yogourt with 2% or less butter fat (B.F.) or milk fat(M.F.);
• lower-fat cheeses ranging from 2% B.F. or M.F. to 15%-20% B.F. or M.F. (most firm, ripened cheese contains 28%-32% B.F. or M.F.); and
• frozen yogourt (less than 3% B.F. or M.F.); ice milk (3%-5% B.F. or M.F.);light ice cream (5%-7.5% B.F. or M.F.).

Higher-fat Milk Products to use less often: whole milk; regular evaporated milk; yogourts and cottage cheese containing more than 2% B.F. or M.F.; cheese with 20% or more B.F. or M.F.; regular ice cream (8%-10% or more B.F. or M.F.); cream; and sour cream.

Meat & Alternatives
Meats, poultry, some fish, eggs, nuts and seeds can be major sources of fat. This is why the directional statement advises to: Choose leaner meat, poultry and fish, as well as dried peas, beans and lentils more often.

Leaner meats will show very little fat marbled throughout the meat and fat can be easily trimmed. Processed meats that are pre-packaged may have a nutrition label that will help consumers make lower-fat choices. And, most legumes (dried peas, beans and lentils) are low-fat meat alternatives that can be eaten more often.

Higher-fat Meat & Alternatives to eat less often: breaded and fried meat, fish and poultry; poultry with the skin; higher-fat meats like bacon, sausages, bologna; regular and medium ground meat unless the fat can be drained off; and canned fish packed in oil.

Eggs are higher in dietary cholesterol than most foods in this food group.
Consumers can enjoy eggs as a meat alternative but are encouraged not to eat them every day.

Other Foods
Some Other Foods are major sources of fat in the Canadian diet. The Food Guide states that: Some of these foods are higher in fat or Calories, so use these in moderation.

Examples of higher-fat Other Foods are:

• fats and oils such as butter, cooking oil, margarine, oil-based salad dressing, shortening, lard and regular mayonnaise;
• high-fat snack foods like potato chips, corn chips and chocolate.

You can encourage consumers to reduce their fat intake from these Other Foods by:

• choosing fat-reduced products such as Calorie-reduced or fat-reduced salad dressings;
• using smaller amounts of fats and oils in recipes and stir-frying; and
• choosing high-fat snack foods in smaller amounts.