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An Update on Trans Fats
This month, American food manufacturers have to come clean on trans fat. January 1 is the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s deadline requiring companies to list the amounts of the notorious artery-cloggers on their packaged goods’ Nutrition Facts labels. And the spotlight is already paying off in the number of products that are ditching the offending fat.
When the FDA established the deadline in 2003, only a handful of products claimed to be low in trans fat or trans fat–free, says consumer-trend spotter Mintel International Group Ltd. But just before the 2006 deadline, 804 new or reformulated products were touting their new low–trans fat or trans fat–free status. Here are some of the latest successes:
All of Frito-Lay’s 35 brands of snack chips are trans fat–free.
Even the mother of hydrogenation, Crisco, now offers Crisco Zero Trans Fat Shortening.
You can get trans fat–free fries from McCain, the world’s largest producer of frozen French fries.
Wegmans, a New York–based super-market chain, has its own line of trans fat–free foods, called “Food You Feel Good About,” that are also preservative-free.
Frozen seafood giant Gorton’s has cut trans fat from its 59 products, including one of its most popular: fish sticks.
It’s spreading to restaurants, too
Even though they aren’t required to disclose trans fat on their menus, restaurants are joining in. The Ruby Tuesday chain is now frying with trans fat–free canola oil. And McDonald’s has reduced the trans fat in its Chicken McNuggets, as well as in Crispy Chicken and McChicken sandwiches; the company is also testing ways to reduce or eliminate trans fat in its fries.
First widely used by food manufacturers in the 1940s as an inexpensive shelf-life extender, trans fat is now linked to increased incidence of heart disease, Alzheimer’s, diabetes, and certain cancers. Although some trans fats occur naturally in meat and dairy products, the majority are artificial, made when an oil is bombarded with hydrogen and heat (a process called partial hydrogenation). The result increases your LDL cholesterol—the bad stuff—maybe even more than saturated fat does. And it lowers your heart-healthy HDL cholesterol.
In the last few years, as the bad news about trans fat snowballed, the packaged-food industry has spent tens of millions of dollars figuring out how to dump trans fat and still preserve flavor, texture, and shelf life without increasing prices, says food-trends analyst Phil Lempert.
It can be tough to ditch
Still, trans fat is not easy to eject from many products. Take doughnuts, for instance: “I haven’t seen a trans fat–free one yet,” says Elaine Meloan, technical manager of food and nutrition labeling at the American Institute of Baking. That’s because America’s favorite junk food relies on trans fat—lots of it—for its crispy outer layer and moist, cakelike interior. With a “limited supply of good oil alternatives,” it’s neither cost- nor taste-effective for large-scale doughnut producers to reformulate, Meloan says.
And while Wegmans has tried, the company can’t yet get rid of trans fat in its cream-filled sandwich cookies and cake icings. “A reformulated item might look great and heart-healthy on paper, but if it gets into a test kitchen and fails or consumers don’t like it, then it’s back to the drawing board,” says Jane Andrews, MS, RD, Wegmans’ corporate nutritionist.
Cake mixes and tub frostings pose a big challenge, too. But if you want a trans fat–free version now, you can check out the tasty vegan products at www.goodbaker.com and the vegetarian ones at www.cherrybrookkitchen.com.
In the meantime, the de-fatting work continues. Cookie manufacturer Voortman spent 3 years perfecting a trans fat–free recipe for its 60-some products, which are now made with a blend of canola and soybean, modified palm, palm kernel, and sunflower oils (none hydrogenated). Other companies are testing tropical oils once shunned for their high saturated fat, or trying to hydrogenate oils without creating trans fat. Dow AgroSciences, for example, has developed a high-yield Nexera seed (a type of canola seed), which produces oil without the need for hydrogenation. Though the new oil, called Natreon, works well for frying and gives packaged foods extended shelf lives, there’s still a limited supply. But Dow AgroSciences says production is ramping up and healthier oils like Natreon will replace most partially hydrogenated oils within a couple of years.
Until then, is any amount of trans fat OK for you? The short answer: a little bit. The American Heart Association recommends that total saturated fat plus trans fat not exceed 10 percent of your calories. That’s slightly more strict than the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s new dietary guidelines, which suggest no more than 10 percent of calories from saturated fat, and as little trans fat as possible.
To do that, “checking the label is the simplest and most straight-forward approach (now that trans fat is listed on the Nutrition Facts panel), and cutting back on commercially prepared baked goods and fried foods helps,” explains JoAnn Manson, MD, professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and a Health Advisory Board member.
The bottom line
While there’s no amount of trans fat that’s good for you, “it’s impossible to eliminate trans fat 100 percent,” says American Dietetic Association spokesperson Lalita Kaul, PhD, RD. So we suggest eating your fruits and veggies, checking out the newly trans fat–free products, and enjoying the occasional, delectable doughnut.
This month, American food manufacturers have to come clean on trans fat. January 1 is the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s deadline requiring companies to list the amounts of the notorious artery-cloggers on their packaged goods’ Nutrition Facts labels. And the spotlight is already paying off in the number of products that are ditching the offending fat.
When the FDA established the deadline in 2003, only a handful of products claimed to be low in trans fat or trans fat–free, says consumer-trend spotter Mintel International Group Ltd. But just before the 2006 deadline, 804 new or reformulated products were touting their new low–trans fat or trans fat–free status. Here are some of the latest successes:
All of Frito-Lay’s 35 brands of snack chips are trans fat–free.
Even the mother of hydrogenation, Crisco, now offers Crisco Zero Trans Fat Shortening.
You can get trans fat–free fries from McCain, the world’s largest producer of frozen French fries.
Wegmans, a New York–based super-market chain, has its own line of trans fat–free foods, called “Food You Feel Good About,” that are also preservative-free.
Frozen seafood giant Gorton’s has cut trans fat from its 59 products, including one of its most popular: fish sticks.
It’s spreading to restaurants, too
Even though they aren’t required to disclose trans fat on their menus, restaurants are joining in. The Ruby Tuesday chain is now frying with trans fat–free canola oil. And McDonald’s has reduced the trans fat in its Chicken McNuggets, as well as in Crispy Chicken and McChicken sandwiches; the company is also testing ways to reduce or eliminate trans fat in its fries.
First widely used by food manufacturers in the 1940s as an inexpensive shelf-life extender, trans fat is now linked to increased incidence of heart disease, Alzheimer’s, diabetes, and certain cancers. Although some trans fats occur naturally in meat and dairy products, the majority are artificial, made when an oil is bombarded with hydrogen and heat (a process called partial hydrogenation). The result increases your LDL cholesterol—the bad stuff—maybe even more than saturated fat does. And it lowers your heart-healthy HDL cholesterol.
In the last few years, as the bad news about trans fat snowballed, the packaged-food industry has spent tens of millions of dollars figuring out how to dump trans fat and still preserve flavor, texture, and shelf life without increasing prices, says food-trends analyst Phil Lempert.
It can be tough to ditch
Still, trans fat is not easy to eject from many products. Take doughnuts, for instance: “I haven’t seen a trans fat–free one yet,” says Elaine Meloan, technical manager of food and nutrition labeling at the American Institute of Baking. That’s because America’s favorite junk food relies on trans fat—lots of it—for its crispy outer layer and moist, cakelike interior. With a “limited supply of good oil alternatives,” it’s neither cost- nor taste-effective for large-scale doughnut producers to reformulate, Meloan says.
And while Wegmans has tried, the company can’t yet get rid of trans fat in its cream-filled sandwich cookies and cake icings. “A reformulated item might look great and heart-healthy on paper, but if it gets into a test kitchen and fails or consumers don’t like it, then it’s back to the drawing board,” says Jane Andrews, MS, RD, Wegmans’ corporate nutritionist.
Cake mixes and tub frostings pose a big challenge, too. But if you want a trans fat–free version now, you can check out the tasty vegan products at www.goodbaker.com and the vegetarian ones at www.cherrybrookkitchen.com.
In the meantime, the de-fatting work continues. Cookie manufacturer Voortman spent 3 years perfecting a trans fat–free recipe for its 60-some products, which are now made with a blend of canola and soybean, modified palm, palm kernel, and sunflower oils (none hydrogenated). Other companies are testing tropical oils once shunned for their high saturated fat, or trying to hydrogenate oils without creating trans fat. Dow AgroSciences, for example, has developed a high-yield Nexera seed (a type of canola seed), which produces oil without the need for hydrogenation. Though the new oil, called Natreon, works well for frying and gives packaged foods extended shelf lives, there’s still a limited supply. But Dow AgroSciences says production is ramping up and healthier oils like Natreon will replace most partially hydrogenated oils within a couple of years.
Until then, is any amount of trans fat OK for you? The short answer: a little bit. The American Heart Association recommends that total saturated fat plus trans fat not exceed 10 percent of your calories. That’s slightly more strict than the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s new dietary guidelines, which suggest no more than 10 percent of calories from saturated fat, and as little trans fat as possible.
To do that, “checking the label is the simplest and most straight-forward approach (now that trans fat is listed on the Nutrition Facts panel), and cutting back on commercially prepared baked goods and fried foods helps,” explains JoAnn Manson, MD, professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and a Health Advisory Board member.
The bottom line
While there’s no amount of trans fat that’s good for you, “it’s impossible to eliminate trans fat 100 percent,” says American Dietetic Association spokesperson Lalita Kaul, PhD, RD. So we suggest eating your fruits and veggies, checking out the newly trans fat–free products, and enjoying the occasional, delectable doughnut.
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