Kraft slashes trans fats in time for labeling deadline
its products, in time for the 1 January labeling deadline, which
will require all food companies to label the amount of trans-fat in
their products.
In its reformulation efforts, Kraft Foods also ensured that the overall fat content in its products was not increased, the company announced this week.
"In some cases, we even had to develop proprietary blends of oils to help meet our goal of ensuring that the combined level of saturated fat plus trans fat did not increase as a result of the reformulation," said Jean Spence, the company's global technology and quality executive vice president.
The reformulation, in which the company claims to have invested 100,000 people-hours, affects products throughout Kraft's US portfolio, in product categories including cereal, cookies, crackers, pizza and deserts.
A 0g trans fat per serving label will now be carried by well-known brands such as Kraft Easy Mac, DiGiorno Thin Crispy Crust Pizza, original Oreo cookies and Wheat Thins crackers.
With the completion of its reformulation efforts, the company says that fewer than 2.5 percent of its products covered by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) rule will be required to bear labels declaring the presence of trans fats.
Indeed, food makers are desperately looking to remove trans fats from their products before the 1 January labeling deadline.
Trans fat, formed when liquid oils are made into solid fats like shortening and hard margarine, have effectively been linked to higher blood levels of bad (LDL) cholesterol that increases the risk of heart disease.
And according to the American Heart Association, 70.1 million Americans suffered from heart disease in 2002 (34.2 percent of the population), and the mortality figure was 0.93 million.
The issue first came into the limelight in 2003, when Californian attorney Stephen Joseph sued both Kraft and McDonald's over the trans fat content of their products.
Without an audacious lawsuit - seen by many as ridiculous at the time - the issue may well have remained dormant.
In May 2003, Joseph filed a lawsuit against Kraft, targeting the trans-fat content of Oreo's. The issue became front-page news. Jay Leno, Rush Limbaugh and a host of other media personalities weighed in. Joseph was on Good Morning America when he heard that Kraft had agreed to remove trans fats from their cookies amid the sudden blaze of publicity.
And two months later, the FDA announced new labeling rules.
Now, Kraft says its trans fat reduction efforts are part of its "broader health and wellness initiatives."
"We're continually working on ways to enhance the nutritional profiles of our products," said Lance Friedmann, Kraft's global health and wellness senior vice president.
"With trans fat reformulation efforts, we've responded to consumers' concerns, while also delivering on their quality and taste expectations. A great example of having met this goal is our Triscuit cracker line; we've seen double-digit growth on Triscuit sales since its reformulation," he added.
