Sludge delights

With trans fat labeling on the horizon, Nabisco has cut the partially hydrogenated oils out of some Oreos, some Chips Ahoy, and other snacks.

Is Entenmann's buying Nabisco's unwanted fats at fire-sale prices?

Why else would it introduce a new line of shelf-stable cookies like Fudge Delights? "Satisfy your craving for a truly decadent treat" with a "crispy chocolate cookie surrounded by cool mint then drizzled with rich fudge," coos the label on the Fudge & Mint Delights.

Translation: a cookie that--thanks to its coating--has more partially hydrogenated shortening (made from palm kernel and soybean oil) than any other ingredient.

The label lists 4 1/2 grams of saturated fat per serving (two cookies, at 75 calories a pop). Odds are, the shortening supplies another two or three grams of trans fat. And the other three Fudge Delights varieties look no better.

Why waste a third of a day's bad fat on two measly cookies? Do you want the sludge that collects on your artery walls to look like the chocolate that's drizzled on the Delights?

Companies like to explain away some of their worst (and often cheapest) ingredients with words like "decadence." So that's what they're calling sleaze these days.

Entenmann's: (973) 785-7606.

COPYRIGHT 2004 Center for Science in the Public Interest
COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale Group