Sarah Knapton, science editor of the Telegraph newspaper, has written to the South Bayview Bulldog in regard to her story which began “Saturated fat found in butter, meat or cream is unlikely to kill you, but margarine just might, new research suggests”. That tone-setting opening of the story prompted some readers of the Calgary Herald to call it wrong because margarine in North America does not contain trans-fat, the artificial element about which she wrote. Nor has it for many years. Ms. Knapton says in her mail: “In the UK, many margarines, particularly those sold in smaller outlets still contain trans-fats. Most margarines that don’t are now simply called ‘spread’. If the case is different in Canada it was up to the Calgary Herald to make that clear if they were lifting my story” The Telegraph story was based on a study done at McMaster University which compared the dietary jeopardy of butter and animal fats and trans-fat. Dr. Russell de Souza says his study “did not review the trans fats contents of specific foods in the food supply, which have changed quite a bit in Canada over the last 5-10 years. Most margarines sold in Canada at one time did contain high amounts of trans, but to the best of my knowledge, most brands are now trans-fat free, having removed the partially-hydrogenated oils.” In fact, it is reasonable to say margarine has been free of trans-fat for decades.
