Smart Balance
Encyclopedia
Smart Balance, Inc. is a company that manufactures a series of products under the Smart Balance name, including margarine
, flavored microwave popcorn, and peanut butter. The products claim to have no partially hydrogenated vegetable oils and extremely low levels of trans fats, and to be comparable in quality to other vegetable oil based products. The products in this line that are not based on or combined with butter or milk contain no animal products, thus they contain no cholesterol
, just like other vegetable oil products. The oil blend used in these products was developed at Brandeis University
.
Smart Balance contains 70 mg of trans fat per serving, which is about 1% of its total fat content, much less than the percentages (up to 45%) associated with traditional margarines. The vegetable oils used in Smart Balance contain low levels of naturally occurring trans fats, which fall below the FDA guidelines for reporting trans fat content on nutrition labels.
Margarine
Margarine , as a generic term, can indicate any of a wide range of butter substitutes, typically composed of vegetable oils. In many parts of the world, the market share of margarine and spreads has overtaken that of butter...
, flavored microwave popcorn, and peanut butter. The products claim to have no partially hydrogenated vegetable oils and extremely low levels of trans fats, and to be comparable in quality to other vegetable oil based products. The products in this line that are not based on or combined with butter or milk contain no animal products, thus they contain no cholesterol
Cholesterol
Cholesterol is a complex isoprenoid. Specifically, it is a waxy steroid of fat that is produced in the liver or intestines. It is used to produce hormones and cell membranes and is transported in the blood plasma of all mammals. It is an essential structural component of mammalian cell membranes...
, just like other vegetable oil products. The oil blend used in these products was developed at Brandeis University
Brandeis University
Brandeis University is an American private research university with a liberal arts focus. It is located in the southwestern corner of Waltham, Massachusetts, nine miles west of Boston. The University has an enrollment of approximately 3,200 undergraduate and 2,100 graduate students. In 2011, it...
.
Smart Balance contains 70 mg of trans fat per serving, which is about 1% of its total fat content, much less than the percentages (up to 45%) associated with traditional margarines. The vegetable oils used in Smart Balance contain low levels of naturally occurring trans fats, which fall below the FDA guidelines for reporting trans fat content on nutrition labels.