Reading nutrition data. Fats and Fatty acids.

[HtTKar]

I was looking up the nutritional information for barley. I found that the fats and fatty acids are broken down into different percentage ratios. This is something I have never seen before, and have no knowlege of.

Is there anybody that can explain the differences between 16:0 Saturated fat and 18:0 saturated fat. I kind of thought saturated fat was saturated fat. What ratios are healthiest, and where do they come from? Any information would be helpful as I'm completely in the dark on this one.

Thank you in advance.

http://www.nutritiondata.com/facts-001-02s04ds.html

[Broadsword2004]

Well ALL SATURATED FAT IS TERRIBLE FOR YOU. Unsaturated fats are what you need occassionally. Be careful of trans-fats as well. They too are very bad for you.

[HtTKar]

Ok, well that wasnt really my point, though.
I already know how to read a nutritional label, I just had never seen fats broken down like this before. The difference in the ratios is what I was searching for.

16:2 undifferentiated polyunsaturated fat
18:2 undifferentiated polyunsaturated fat
18:2 n-6 c,c polyunsaturated fat
18:2 c,t polyunsaturated fat
18:3 polyunsaturated fat.

I was really interested in what these ratios mean. What sources are better for you, and where do they come from?

I found a little bit here that explains the ratios.

http://www.nutritiondata.com/fatty-acids.html

Clicking on these links will further explain what I was actually looking for. This site is pretty intricate in breaking down the nutritional data, probably the best I've seen. Guess I should have just looked a little harder. All the datas included right on this site.
Thanks