Is The Misunderstood ? The Jungle was a widely popular book Public Influence of AND concerned the book The about quality Jungle For many of us the word lard instantly invokes images of clogged arteries and heart disease. A hundred of lard Includes a Workers fell years ago, lard was a staple item in nearly every pantry, but today few of us can imagine with disgusting scene in lard and such an unhealthy substance. of the making of were sold lard along with it But what if lard isn’t as bad as the collective knee jerk reaction would lead us to believe? Evidence: Written by Upton Sinclair, The Jungle was non- fiction, but it contains very AND graphic details of the packing industry. Lard isn't Wasn't a Demand for Cust. Service Difficult to widely profitable lard Goal Impacted purchase lard available any Surplus of no longer Demand for business decreased Invention of more cotton seed needed for candles the light bulb oil candles decreased came While lard is certainly not oil, the reality is that lard is actually a relatively healthy option when a solid on the market fat is needed. This is true because most of the fat in lard is monounsaturated fat, which is healthier than Other fat AND options . The fat in lard is 40 percent saturated compared with 60 percent saturated fat in . The invention became The partially hydrogenated found in are now considered to be the least healthy AND of available option. While Crisco no longer contains trans-fats, lard has always been naturally trans-fat free. Crisco had So how did lard get such a bad reputation? similar AND Packaged as a properties to purer A recent article on National Public Radio tried to answer the question – who killed lard? The article lard alternative to claimed that a number of factors contributed to the fall of lard’s popularity. The public became uneasy Crisco was lard about the industry after the publication of Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle. Included in the book was a supported by a disgusting scene that depicted workers falling into vats of lard and being sold along with it for human massive marketing AND consumption which understandably cooled the public’s appetite for lard. campaign Co. sent samples, A second major factor was that an alternative fat product became available that offered an option to a sponsored cooking public queasy about the pork industry. Crisco came on the market, armed with a massive marketing AND shows, etc campaign, offering a fat option that wasn’t associated with the pork industry. The creation of Crisco was possible because of the invention of hydrogenation and a surplus of . The oil had Public previously been used to manufacture candles, but the invention of the light bulb had dimmed the demand. Other fat options concerned See Same seemed more about quality Cause At about the same time Crisco was hitting shelves, scientist began asking questions about the saturated desirable of lard fat in lard. Ironically the bad publicity about the health impacts of trans-fats (which were in shortening at the time) was years away, but the early findings that linked saturated fat to heart disease were another strike against the popularity of lard. AND Photo from Wikipedia Commons, posted by user Peter G Werner.

Today, lard is making a comeback with foodies, but it still isn’t widely used and it is difficult to find in Scientists They felt stores. Only time will tell if lard will once again became a popular pantry staple. questioned saturated fats Lard has healthiness of in lard caused reputation for lardScientists in 1950s heart disease being very AND Evidence: Studies unhealthy Understanding of that were done in Public was Evidence: The how different fats the 1950s. Safety Goal misinformed differences between affect body has Impacted about health types of fat weren't changed over years Cause Map risks of lard? widely recognized High Level initially. Lard's fat is mostly Why? AND monounsaturated

Lard is Effect Cause Houston Office 281-489-2904 AND www.ThinkReliability.com healthier than shortening Monounsaturated NOTE: Read the Cause Map from left to right fat is healthier than with the phrase "Was Caused By" in place of Copyright ThinkReliability 2012 saturated fat