Tuesday, November 14, 2006 - 3:25 PM
130-5

Trans Fatty Acid Reformulation and Impact on Food Processors.

Earnie Unger and Willie Loh. Cargill, Inc, 2300 N Yellowstone Hwy, Idaho Falls, ID 83401

With increased consumer awareness and label requirements that require Food Manufactures to declare the trans Fatty Acid (TFA), most brand driven Food Manufactures have reformulated products to eliminate TFA from food products.  Reformulation has been challenging and required extensive testing to ensure no change in product functionality, flavor, consumer acceptance and market positioning.  In many cases this has required changes in manufacturing specifications, oil handling systems and/or changes in package material.  The broadly available and moderately priced hydrogenated oils which provided good product self life where replaced with one or more non hydrogenated oils that include canola oil, soybean oil, corn oil, palm oil, etc.  Where the stability of hydrogenated oils was a critical criterion in Food Products, the higher stability non-hydrogenated oils such as nusun, high oleic sunflower, high oleic canola oil, mid oleic sunflower and palm oil are viable options.  Consumers have a high awareness of saturated fat in products and low or zero TFA alone do not appear to be viable consumer options.