A few weekends ago, company came over and brought donuts. While everyone was eating them, I noticed something… something that reminded me of one of the reasons trans fats—the villain that raises your bad cholesterol while simultaneously lowering your good cholesterol—was introduced into our food supply in the first place.

The thing I noticed is what I like to call “donut stain”…

The beauty of trans fat is that it’s solid at room temperature. So one of it’s advantages for food manufacturers is that it doesn’t produce “donuut stain.” Thus, because trans fats don’t melt at room temperature, the consumer doesn’t have a visible reminder that their donut is filled with fat.

Since their removal, trans fats have largely been replaced by vegetable oils that are liquid at room temperature. Being liquid at room temperature, these fats seep out of products and onto their containers causing the classic donut stain.

I learned about this fact from: A discussion with my supervisor during one of our weekly lab meetings!