Polyunsaturated fats in vegetable oils are healthful if they are left in the vegetables. Removing fats from vegetables shortens their shelf life. Hydrogen atoms are added to replace the unsaturated double bonds between carbons, to create a very stable, more solid fat that is similar to saturated fat but has a different chemical structure. Partially hydrogenated fats that you eat are deposited in your body fat. Lenore Kohlmeier of the University of North Carolina biopsied the fat in women's buttocks.
Babies eat too much partially hydrogenated fats, too.
Bruce Holub of the University of Guelph reports that partially hydrogenated fats account for 23 percent of the fat in baby cereals and 37 percent of the fat in baby cookies. The foods a woman eats determines what types of fats are found in her breast milk. Partially hydrogenated fats comprise 7.2 percent of the fat in Canadian women's breast milk and the combination of the large amount of partially hydrogenated fats in baby food and breast milk cause the average baby to get more than 4 percent of his fat from hydrogenated fats. Partially hydrogenated fats are the principal fat in many prepared foods, such a french fries, doughnuts, frozen meals, cookies, crackers and so forth. Under the present labeling regulations, the Nutrition Information panel on food packages does not list the amount of trans fats.