New oils cut trans fats

Several ingredient companies are bringing to market new stable and hard fats designed to help manufacturers reduce the unhealthy trans fatty acid content of products.

Trans fatty acids, or trans fats, can be created when vegetable oil is partially hydrogenated in order to extend its shelf-life. Medical experts believe trans fats, which are often found in confectionery, baked products and fried foods, are harmful to the heart.

European regulators have so far chosen not to regulate on trans fats, unlike the US and Canada which have made the labelling of trans fat content compulsory from next year. However, the European Food Safety Authority has advised manufacturers to reduce trans fat levels wherever possible.

This advice, on top of growing consumer awareness of the issue, has led many food producers to look for alternative but equally stable ingredients.

Cargill believes it has reached a crucial milestone with the introduction of Losatra oil which can replace semi solid and hard fats, and provide an 80% reduction in trans fats.

Cargill's Bas van Duinen says: "Until now, for these applications the only alternative to trans fatty acids was to replace them with oils that contain high levels of saturated fat. Losatra offers a healthy alternative for trans fatty acid reduction by maintaining a low level of saturated fat."

Cargill has built a dedicated production unit to manufacture the ingredient in Germany.

Bakery ingredient supplier BakeMark has also developed non-hydrogenated vegetable oil blends of its Castle Shortening and Apollo Cake Margarine. Kerrie Hampson, head of marketing, says: "The bakery fats are low in trans fats and so present a healthier alternative, without compromising on taste. They process easily and perform just as well as our standard products in a range of baked goods."

Plant breeding is behind some of the recent breakthroughs. Cargill and Dow Agrosciences have both developed varieties of rapeseed oil that are high in oleic acid, which gives the oil a longer shelf-life without hydrogenation and the resulting trans fats.

However, changing existing recipes to any new oil variety or ingredient will mean extensive taste-testing, as well as process and labelling changes for manufacturers.