A friend of mine in the United Kingdom was telling me about a news
story in which it was claimed that what we often call "junk food" in
the USA (what they call "snacks") is very unhealthy because these
items have a "high saturated fat content," or something equivalent.
Apparently, such people have not actually looked at the labels of
these kinds of food items (unless they are made differently in the UK
- out of all the foreign "junk food" I've seen in the USA, very few
items are very rich in saturated fatty acids, or SFAs). It's not just
that they are incorrect, but that if they were correct, then this kind
of food should be recommended, not disparaged. And it irritates me
that when I go to the food store to find some "junk food" that is rich
in saturated fatty acids but low in unsaturated fatty acids, I have
very few choices. Below is a list of very popular "junk food" items
made by a company called Little Debbie. I found the nutritional
information at www.foodfacts.com, and I can't say for sure if it's all
correct, but I do know that it's consistent with what I see when I
read labels, that is, most of these items are rich in unsaturated
fatty acids and low in SFAs. One of the few Little Debbie items I am
willing to eat has 7 grams of fat per serving, 5 of which are SFAs,
with no cholesterol (I wanted to try the no fat one, but haven't found
it in local stores yet). Should such "reports" be considered "pure
propaganda," or is there a better phrase to describe them?

Here is the list, with total fat in grams followed by the SFA content,
following the name of each item:

Little Debbie Apple Pie
19 - 5

Little Debbie Apple Streusel Coffee Cake
7 - 1.5

Little Debbie Banana Marshmallow Pies
no fat

Little Debbie Banana Nut Loaves
10 - 1.5

Little Debbie Be My Valentine Cakes
14 - 3

Little Debbie Boston Creme Rolls
12 -3

Little Debbie Brownie Lights
3 - 0

Little Debbie Brownies with English Walnuts
13 - 2.5

Little Debbie Cheese Crackers with Peanut Butter
8 - 1.5

Little Debbie Creme-Filled Strawberry Cupcakes
10 - 2.5

Little Debbie Devil Cremes Filled Cakes
8 - 2

Little Debbie Devil Squares
13 - 3

Little Debbie German Chocolate Cookie Rings with Caramel
7 - 5 (this is what it says on the package I have)

Little Debbie Honey Buns
13 - 3.5

Little Debbie Peanut Butter Crunch Bars
15 -3

Little Debbie Pound Cakes
9 - 2.5

Little Debbie Snack Cakes
15 - 4

Little Debbie Star Crunch Cookies
6 - 1.5

Little Debbie White Fall Party Cakes
15 - 3.5

Now compare the SFA content in most of these items to the SFA content
in the other food Americans or UK citizens eat that has more than a
negligible fat content.  A bad joke !