Replacing Trans—With an Eye on Saturates

Trans fat is the not-so-silent killer (still) in a wide range of foods, raising people’s low-density lipoprotein (LDL, or “bad”) cholesterol, with excessive consumption possibly leading to a host of negative health conditions, such as coronary heart disease.

Most trans fats consumed today are created by partially hydrogenating plant oils to make them more stable.

Saturated fatty acids are also on our health radar—and have been for quite some time. They occur naturally at high levels in animal foods and certain plant oils, including butter, lard, coconut oil and palm kernel oil, and tend to be solid at room temperature. Studies indicate not all saturated fatty acids have a negative effect on blood cholesterol levels: stearic (high levels in cocoa butter) and medium-chain triglycerides (high levels in coconut and palm kernel oil) might have a neutral impact on health.

Regardless, FDA makes no distinction between fatty acids associated with increased total and LDL cholesterol and those that are not. Therefore, that’s the challenge put forth: trans “bad”; saturates “bad.”

Trans fats and saturated fats have similar physical properties, but different chemical arrangements. “The chemical shape of fats and oils drives their functionality in foods in terms of performance and stability,” says David Dzisiak, commercial leader for oils, Dow AgroSciences, Indianapolis. That composition also dictates their effects on health.

But as we’ve swapped out trans, we’ve introduced more saturated fat. According to an article in USA Today, Americans now eat about five times more saturated fat than trans fat (“Are trans fat replacements any healthier?” Aug. 16, 2007).

AN EYE ON THE FUTURE

Because saturated and trans fats have similar performance and similar negative effects, no single or simple drop-in substitute can replace trans fats across the board. In addition, “the industry is challenged with the fast pace that mandates are coming down the pipeline,” says Angela Hemauer, senior marketing manager, The Soyfoods Council, Norfolk, VA. Labeling requirements, governmental demands and consumer awareness have all combined to put on the pressure.

But despite such demands, according to Dow AgroSciences, more than 5 billion pounds of edible soybean oil is still partially hydrogenated. “That’s one challenge—to change it,” says Dzisiak.

Low-linolenic soybean oil has less linolenic acid than conventional soybean oil, thereby rendering it more stable and capable of providing some answers to replacing hydrogenated oils and saturates. The Soyfoods Council, along with the United Soybean Board, Chesterfield, MO, is partnering with a number of companies, including Asoyia and Monsanto, as well as the Qualisoy™ initiative, to boost production of low-linolenic soybean oil. “In order to produce the trans-fat-free soybean oil, the entire pipeline—breeders, seed distributors, soybean growers, grain operators, oil processors, foodservice distributors—needs to be on board,” says Hemauer.