Lard vs Hydrogenated Lard: What the Label Means and Cleaner Swaps
Chapters
- The Short Answer
- What Lard Is
- What Hydrogenation Does
- The Trans Fat Rules
- Reading a Shortening Label
- Cleaner Swaps
- A Ten Second Fat Check
- Your Turn
Audio from the Clean Food Score video of the same name; the video shows the labels and scores on screen.
Lard vs hydrogenated lard: plain lard is rendered pork fat, while hydrogenated lard is processed to stay shelf stable. We explain hydrogenation, the FDA trans fat timeline and the zero grams loophole, how to read a shortening label, and cleaner swaps like leaf lard, tallow, ghee and butter (as of October 2026).
Full guide and the products we checked
Check any ingredient list free
Products featured (Amazon links, with our 0–100 label score):
• Fatworks Organic Grass-Fed Beef Tallow — 100/100
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Chapters
0:00 The Short Answer
0:35 What Lard Is
1:15 What Hydrogenation Does
1:58 The Trans Fat Rules
2:43 Reading a Shortening Label
3:09 Cleaner Swaps
3:42 A Ten Second Fat Check
4:11 Your Turn
Product scores are Clean Food Score's 0–100 label scores as shown on cleanfoodscore.com on 2026-10-16. Recipes change, so read the package you buy. We read labels; this is not medical advice.
Music
"Reminiscing" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
"Friday Morning" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
"Carefree" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Sound effects: Kenney (kenney.nl), CC0.
#lard #transfat #foodlabels