This article explains the fats portion of food labels and suggests the best cooking oils to use at various temperatures.

Fats are probably the hardest part of nutrition to understand. There are so many types of fat; some are essential, so others must be non-essential; some are saturated and some unsaturated.

Interpreting “Nutrition Facts” on Food labels

All processed foods have a food label that describes the fat, protein and carbohydrate content of the food. The fat section of the label will read something like this:

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Total Fats = 14 gm

• Saturated Fats = 5 gm
• Trans Fats = 1 gm

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This product has 6 grams of bad fats, and 8 grams of unsaturated (good) fats (good fat equals total fat minus bad fat).

In general saturated fats are bad fats that should be avoided. There are actually 24 types of saturated fats, some are worse than others. Some products like dark chocolate have many health benefits even though they contain saturated fats.

Interpreting the “Ingredients” Section

Below the ingredients table will be a list of “Ingredients.” Put the product back on the shelf if you see “hydrogenated oils,” “partially hydrogenated oils,” or if most of the fat is saturated.

The food industry puts some fats in food that are good to eat--unsaturated fats and polyunsaturated fats are generally good.

What kind of oils to use for cooking?

Another major way that fats enter our diets is through cooking at home. The choice of the best oil depends on how hot you need to cook the food. The temperatures shown as just a suggestion since the oils vary from different manufacturers:

• For cooking up to 225 degrees F, use safflower, sunflower or pumpkin oil. At this low temperature you can use the unrefined versions of these oils. The refined versions of the same oils can be used at higher temperatures—see below.
• For cooking up to 325 degrees F, use the unrefined forms of soy, corn, almond, peanut, olive, or sesame oil.
• For cooking up to 350 degrees F, butter, semi-refined canola oil, coconut oil, or semi-refined soy oil.
• For cooking up to 375 degrees F, coconut oil or Ghee.
• For cooking up to 400 degrees F, extra-virgin olive oil, refined sesame oil, refined corn oil.
• For cooking up to 450 degrees F, refined safflower oil, refined soy oil, refined peanut oil, extra-light olive oil, .
• For cooking up to 500 degrees F, use avocado oil, grapeseed oil.

If oils are heated more than recommended, the heat destroys the benefits of the oil and produces harmful chemicals that cause cancer. If the oil is smoking, it has been heated too much.

Some forms of unrefined oils can’t take any heat at all and should only be used for salad dressings and condiments: flaxseed, borage, canola, hemp seed, soy and walnut oils. If you must cook with these oils, make sure to cook at a very low temperature that produces no smoke.

Other issues

The only oils suitable for cooking are cold-pressed oils. Some cheaper oils are heated excessively in the manufacturing process so they already have harmful chemicals when you buy them.

Some manufacturers are using genetically-modified materials (GMO) to produce cooking oils. These should be avoided until their effects on humans have been determined. Look for oils that say “non-GMO.”

Finally, remember that oils tend to go rancid at room temperature, so store the oils in the refrigerator after the bottle is opened.