Principle 15: Choose Healthier Oils

Using plant oils and other ingredients that contain unsaturated fats, such as canola, soy, peanut, and olive oils, as well as featuring fish, nuts, seeds, avocados, and whole grains, are simple ways to create healthier menus. Research shows that reducing saturated fat is good for health if replaced with “good” fats, especially polyunsaturated fats, instead of refined carbohydrates such as white bread, white rice, mashed potatoes, and sugary drinks.

High-flavor fats and oils that contain more saturated fat—including butter, cream, lard, and coconut oil—can have a place in healthy cooking if used only occasionally in limited, strategic applications. Trans fats from partially hydrogenated vegetable oils, now labeled a “metabolic poison” by leading medical scientists, have no place in foodservice kitchens.