Analysis of Vegetable Oil in Cheez Its Original Snack Crackers

The main ingredient in Cheez-It Original Snack Crackers, after enriched flour and cheese, is vegetable oil. It could be soybean oil, palm oil, or sunflower oil, among others. The specific type of vegetable oil used can alter the nutritional profile slightly, but generally, vegetable oils are high in calories and fat, though they contain little to no protein or carbohydrates. The nutritional value of vegetable oil mostly comes from fat, more specifically, unsaturated fats. Soybean and sunflower oils, for example, contain good amounts of polyunsaturated fat, which includes essential fats your body needs for brain function and cell growth. However, vegetable oil also contains saturated fat. Palm oil has a particularly high content of saturated fat. Excessive intake of saturated fat can lead to high cholesterol and increased risk of heart disease and stroke. Also, Cheez-It crackers are likely made with refined vegetable oils. The refining process can strip away some of the nutrients, and it also often involves treating the oil with chemicals or high heat which could lead to the generation of harmful compounds. Another health point to ponder is the quality of oil being used. Not all oils are created equally, and some are more likely to be genetically modified or treated with pesticides. When these oils are consumed, the chemicals could potentially risk our health. In terms of calorie contribution, vegetable oil can contribute significantly. Each gram of fat (regardless of the kind) supplies nine calories, which is more than twice the amount provided by proteins or carbohydrates. In conclusion, while vegetable oil does provide some essential fats, the potential high saturated fat content, use of possibly refined and treated oil, high caloric contribution, and likelihood for it to be genetically modified bring down the overall nutrition score. This score reflects the fact that while vegetable oil does have some nutritional value, particularly in unrefined forms, the health implications of the saturated fat content, potential chemical exposure, and caloric density must also be considered.