Food-label rule proves to be a big ingredient for change

[Guest guest]

http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2004/10/10/food_label_rule_proves_to_be_\

a_big_ingredient_for_change?mode=PF

 

Food-label rule proves to be a big ingredient for change

 

By Bruce Mohl, Globe Staff  |  October 10, 2004

 

The Oreo, America's best-selling cookie, is getting an unusual makeover.

 

Nabisco Corp. is trying to develop an Oreo that looks and tastes exactly

like it does now, but without the artery-clogging trans fat that can

significantly increase the risk of coronary heart disease.

 

The Oreo makeover is part of a broader revolution taking place on

American supermarket shelves in advance of a nutrition labeling

requirement of trans fat that begins in 2006. Companies are spending

millions of dollars to rid their products of trans fat on the assumption

that anything other than a zero on the label will send sales plummeting.

 

Pepsico's Frito-Lay division eliminated trans fat from its Tostitos,

Doritos, and Cheetos chips last year. Pepperidge Farm now has Goldfish

crackers without trans fat. Nabisco, which makes Oreos, has reformulated

its Triscuit, Chips Ahoy!, and many of its cereal and granola brands to

dump trans fats.

 

''It's having much more of an effect than the Food and Drug

Administration ever predicted, " said Michael F. Jacobson, executive

director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, referring to

the labeling requirement. ''Hopefully, it will save thousands of lives. "

 

The labeling requirement will ultimately affect 40 percent of the items

on a typical supermarket's shelves, but right now the changes are hard

to spot. Few companies are highlighting their trans fat reformulations

on their packaging.

 

''Food companies don't want to draw attention, " said Colleen Zammer, a

food technology official at TIAX LLC, a research and development company

in Cambridge that is helping many companies reformulate their products.

''People might think that what they were eating before wasn't good for

them. And if the product is the least bit different, they don't want to

call attention to that either. "

 

One exception is Voortman Cookies Ltd. of Burlington, Ontario, which has

eliminated trans fats from its entire line of cookies. The company

trumpets the absence of trans fat on its packaging, especially on its

Oreo knockoff brand called Zeer-Oh's!

 

Harry Voortman, president and founder of the company, said most American

consumers still aren't paying attention to the trans fat issue. ''If you

read what the scientists say, they all say there's no acceptable level

of trans fats, " he said. ''Unfortunately, consumers are not educated

about what trans fats are. "

 

Trans fats were embraced by the US food industry over the last several

decades as a way to reduce the level of saturated fat in their products.

Manufacturers shifted to liquid vegetable oils, which were low in

saturated fat, and heated them to very high temperatures and exposed

them to hydrogen. This partial hydrogenization process yielded a

shortening or margarine that was stable at room temperature, resistant

to spoilage, and full of taste and texture.

 

But the hydrogenated oils, typically soybean or cottonseed, turned out

to be more dangerous than the saturated fats they were intended to

replace. The trans-fatty acids generated by the hydrogenization process

increase LDL, the bad cholesterol that increases the risk of heart

attacks and strokes, and may decrease HDL, the good cholesterol that

helps keep arteries free and clear. Harvard University nutrition

researchers estimate trans fat consumption causes 30,000 premature

coronary heart disease deaths a year, and possibly as many as 100,000.

 

The new nutrition labels, mandated by the FDA, offer limited information

to food shoppers. Companies are only required to disclose how much trans

fat is in each serving of their product, rounded to the nearest gram.

 

FDA officials recommend consuming as little trans fat as possible. The

agency's food advisory committee gave more guidance in April,

recommending that trans fat should represent no more than about 2 grams,

or about 20 calories, for someone on a 2,000-calorie-a-day diet.

 

Since the typical American consumes about 20 calories of naturally

occurring trans fat each day eating meat and some dairy products, the 1

percent recommendation effectively means individuals should be consuming

no man-made trans fats.

 

The new nutrition labels should help consumers who want to curb their

intake of trans fats, but smart shoppers wanting to know more about what

they are eating may also want to keep an eye on the ingredients label.

 

Some companies avoid trans fats by shifting to oils high in saturated

fat, like palm oil, which can increase bad cholesterol. Others are

trying an oil developed by Archer Daniels Midland Co., which contains

saturated fat that is believed to have a neutral effect on the creation

of bad cholesterol. The ADM oil shows up on the ingredient label

identified as an interesterified oil.

 

Until the new trans fat labels become mandatory in January 2006,

shoppers will have to study the ingredients label to determine whether a

product contains a partially hydrogenated oil, the tell-tale indicator

of trans fat.

 

What they find may surprise them. Partially hydrogenated oils are found

in most cookies, cakes, and processed foods, but they're also present in

some cereals (General Mills's Basic 4 Low Fat cereal and Kellogg's

Mueslix), some candy (Fruit by the Foot, Tootsie Rolls, Snickers, and

Skittles), and virtually every brand of microwave popcorn.

 

Most restaurants also use partially hydrogenated oils in their cooking,

and some are beginning to disclose that information to patrons.

McDonald's, which hasn't honored an earlier pledge to curb or eliminate

partially hydrogenated oils, last month began reporting trans fat

content as part of its nutrition facts. The information was sobering. A

Big Mac and a large fries contain 7.5 grams of trans fat and 15 grams of

saturated fat, or a total of 22.5 grams (203 calories) of ''bad " fat.

 

Dunkin' Donuts doesn't break out trans fat on its nutrition facts yet,

but a company spokesman said the doughnut maker is experimenting with

alternative oils to reduce or eliminate the presence of trans fats. A

single glazed doughnut currently has 2.4 grams of trans fat and 1.5

grams of saturated fat, a company spokesman said.

 

Nabisco, which is owned by Kraft Foods, hopes to eliminate the 0.83

grams of trans fat per Oreo cookie (or 2.5 grams per three-cookie

serving) next year, but it's proving to be a difficult challenge.

Partially hydrogenated soybean oil makes the Oreo filling creamy and

tasty, and allows the cookie to last for months on store shelves without

going bad.

 

Competitors have developed Oreo knockoffs that are trans-fat-free and so

has Nabisco itself, but the company hasn't unveiled a reformulation of

its franchise cookie yet. An informal taste test here at the Globe

showed why. Nearly every taster could tell the difference between an

Oreo and its trans-fat-free knockoff.

 

Zammer, the food expert at TIAX, said the brand equity at stake with the

Oreo reformulation is enormous.

 

''Those other products are new and you don't have any expectations about

them, " she said. ''With Oreo cookies, you've been eating them since you

were a kid, so you have strong expectations. "

 

© Copyright 2004 The New York Times Company