Removal of trans fat may not likely affect US food industry

KANSAS State University food scientist and professor Fadi Aramouni doesn’t expect the recent regulation from the US Food and Drug Administration on trans fat to reshape the food industry. But he warns that consumers have to check product ingredients for trans fat.

The new FDA ruling requiring food companies to eliminate trans fat from the food supply in three years is seen as an effort to help reduce the number of heart disease cases in the United States. Prof Aramouni said most companies have already complied with the ruling.

"When the FDA required labeling of trans fat in 2006, a lot of companies moved away from using the product. Many big oil suppliers developed types of oils that are stable without being hydrogenated, which is done by changing the fatty acid composition of these oils. Now many of the oils that food companies can buy are stable without having trans fat in them. Other companies started using unsaturated fats or natural oils again, incorporating antioxidants to help maintain the shelf life," he said.

Consumers however should check the label of food items. Under current nutrition labeling regulations, a product containing less than half a gram of trans fat or fat can claim zero trans fat in the product. He suggests consumers to read the ingredients list, which requires the food to list any partially hydrogenated oils.

“The trans fat—also known as partially hydrogenated oils—is used in a lot of formulations and actually give the food product a little better texture and better taste," he said.

Trans fat is found in many processed foods such as baked goods, frozen foods, and snacks. It has been a staple of the food industry to improve a product's shelf life. Some trans fat is found naturally in minimal amounts in meat and dairy products.

According to Prof Aramouni, "If you take oils naturally found in nature, especially the ones that have a lot of unsaturated fats, they are unstable in food products and get rancid. Years ago, the food industry developed a process to hydrogenate these fats. When you add hydrogen at high temperatures, it saturates these bonds and makes it more solid—a lot more stable—and in the process forms what we call trans fat.”