Some years ago, The Forward published an essay of mine entitled, “Trans Fat: How a Staple of Pareve Foods is Hurting Our Waistlines.” In this essay, I explained that ultraprocessed product manufacturers at the turn of the 20th century attracted large numbers of customers from among recent Jewish immigrants with marketing campaigns based on the fact that the partially-hydrogenated (i.e., trans) fats in newly developed shortenings were pareve, meaning that they contained no meat nor dairy ingredients. This was revolutionary, because it allowed desserts traditionally made with dairy ingredients to be made suitable for meat meals.

A well-known manufacturer, aiming both to increase market share and train bakers how to use the new product, advertised that “The Hebrew race has been waiting for 4

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