Health Canada Consultation with Members of ECFOL¹ on
Viable Alternatives to Reduce the Amount of Trans Fatty Acids in the Canadian Food Supply

April 6, 2004
Ottawa, ON

Synopsis of Meeting

Introduction

Recently, trans fatty acids have been a topic of interest among government, food industry, health professionals, consumers and the media as more information becomes available concerning the negative health effects of these fatty acids. Intakes of trans fatty acids in Canada are among the highest in the world and exceed levels recommended by health professional organizations and governments worldwide. In 1995, Health Canada estimated that the average Canadian consumes about 8.4 g trans fatty acids per day, representing 10% of total fat intake (Ratnayake and Chen, 1995). These levels are of concern especially in light of the Dietary Reference Intake (DRI) Report on the macronutrients published in 2002 by the Institute of Medicine which recommends that "trans fatty acid consumption be as low as possible while consuming a nutritionally adequate diet" due to the link between trans fatty acid intake and total and LDL cholesterol and therefore risk of CHD (Institute of Medicine, 2002).

Over 60% of the trans fatty acids consumed come from processed foods such as bakery products, fast foods and snack foods, which are made with partially hydrogenated fats, the main source of trans fatty acids in the diet. The industry is, however, showing some interest in reducing the amount of trans fatty acids in their products. Since the publication in January 2003 of new regulations requiring manufacturers to disclose the trans fat content of their products, a number of companies have announced that they are currently re-formulating products to remove the partially hydrogenated fats. The challenge in reducing the trans fatty acid content, however, is to not increase the levels of other fat components that have health implications that are equal or worse than those of trans fatty acids.

In light of the concerns about the trans fatty acid content of the Canadian food supply and the related health implications, Health Canada convened a meeting with members of the Expert Committee on Fats, Oils and Other Lipids (ECFOL) to obtain their input on fat reformulation strategies and viable alternatives to reduce the amount of trans fatty acids in the Canadian food supply to minimal levels. Members were asked to address a number of questions related to the functionality, consumer acceptability, health implications, cost and availability of lower trans fatty acid alternatives. This report is a synopsis of the meeting.

^1. Expert Committee on Fats, Oils and Other Lipids

Viable Alternatives and their Functionality

What options are available for replacing trans fatty acids in processed foods? Would these alternatives provide the desired oil functionality (lubricity, texture, storage stability, oxidative stability, frying stability, deliver/potentiate flavour)? What will the consumer acceptability be of processed foods prepared from alternative sources?

In the effort to find alternatives to replace trans fatty acids, one important consideration is the functionality of the fat source. Solid fat is critical for food functionality. It allows for easier handling of dough; it provides functional attributes to baked goods including tenderness, flakiness and enhanced aeration for leavening and structure; it has high oxidative stability thereby increasing the shelf life of the product; and it is often necessary for the processing application itself given its higher melting point and plasticity (workability). Lard and beef tallow as sources of solid fat because of their high saturated fatty acid content, have been replaced with hydrogenated and partially hydrogenated vegetable oil shortening over the last several decades to meet the demand of modern food production. Shortenings are typically produced by partially hydrogenating vegetable oil to produce semi-liquid or solid fats at room temperature. This results in the production of trans fatty acids.

So why not switch back to using animal fats? Aside from the current limited availability of lard and beef tallow, consumer acceptance of animal fats in foods would limit the use of these fats in food processing today, as would the fact that these are also high in saturated fatty acids.

One viable alternative to using partially hydrogenated vegetables oils is to manipulate the hydrogenation conditions through changes in temperature, pressure or the use of precious metal catalysts to produce solid shortenings which are more fully (or entirely) hydrogenated, and thus still appropriate for baking and other food processing applications. This process, however, increases the saturated fatty acid content of the fat. This, in addition to the fact that the term "hydrogenated" may still appear in the list of ingredients of products made with them, may limit consumer acceptability.

Traditional oilseeds which have been bred to have lower linoleic and linolenic acid levels to enhance oxidative stability (e.g. high oleic oil variants of soybean, canola and sunflower) can also be suitable alternatives to solid shortenings for frying and food processing, although their availability may be an issue at the present time. These not only contain little to no trans fatty acids, but they are also reduced in saturated fats. While the shelf life will be satisfactory for use by the neighbourhood baker, in general it is not sufficient for products which require a minimum 6 month shelf life (e.g. crackers), unless expensive sophisticated packaging material is used, due to the lengthy time it takes the product to get through the grocery distribution chain. Nonetheless, the use of these oils is an area of current research for the food industry.

Tropical oils including palm oil, palm oil fractions, palm kernel oil, and coconut oil may also be used as alternatives to partially hydrogenated vegetable oil in some food processing applications because of their high melting points. While their shelf life is considered to be good, the limitations are that the lauric products such as coconut oil and palm kernel oil have the potential to hydrolyse and form soap and produce a poor flavour. These oils also have a low smoke point and are generally not suitable as frying oils. Palm stearin, the solid fraction of palm oil, is also not considered a good option for frying as it will make the product greasy because of its high melting point. Consumer acceptability may be an issue with these oils due to their high saturated fatty acid content.

Low trans fatty acid products can also be produced by the blending of partially hydrogenated vegetable oils, fully hydrogenated vegetable oils or tropical fats with liquid vegetable oils. These may be used for frying or baking depending on the fluidity of the fat. While making such fats utilizes those fats and oils that are available at the time and can be custom formulated to provide a variety of melt profiles, such products, however, have less oxidative stability and different sensory characteristics than partially hydrogenated vegetable oil. For the consumer, the use of an oil that still contains small amounts of partially hydrogenated vegetable oils may not be acceptable since a small amount of trans fat will still be declared on the label.

Finally, the interesterification process, while not the most common practice because of its high cost, can be an alternative to partial hydrogenation whereby a liquid oil and a fully hydrogenated vegetable oil are blended together and the exchange of fatty acids occurs, creating a more solid fat which has a melt profile similar to all-purpose shortening. The stability of such fats, however, will depend on the liquid oil used. While these have not yet been used in the manufacture of shortenings, they are currently used in the production of margarines which are almost devoid of trans fatty acids and lower in saturated fatty acids.

Health Implications of Viable Alternatives

What is known about the health implications of viable alternatives? Better, equal or worse than trans fatty acids? Effects on blood lipid risk factors? Health effects associated with the use of liquid oils in deep frying? Other health effects?

In examining the fats and oils that may be viable options to reducing the amount of trans fatty acids in the food supply, it is clear that the alternative in many cases will be an increase in the amount of saturated fatty acids. Data on blood lipids and clinical trials, however, suggest that while the intake of saturated fatty acids increases the risk of cardiovascular disease compared to cis-polyunsaturates and cis-monounsaturates, the risk is not as high as that for trans fatty acids. This is shown using the ratio of total cholesterol to HDL-cholesterol. This ratio, although not yet proven in controlled clinical trials, is supported in drug trials, prospective clinical trials and genetic models as the best indicator of cardiovascular disease risk.

Despite the increased risk with saturated fatty acids, not all saturates elicit the same negative effects on blood lipids. While clinical data on direct effects on CVD outcomes are lacking, studies with blood lipids as an end-point show that lauric acid increases both total cholesterol and HDL-cholesterol thereby preserving the total cholesterol to HDL-cholesterol ratio compared to myristic and palmitic. Although there is not a clear consensus (see for example, Judd et al, 2002) on the effects of stearic acid on blood lipids, the bulk of the data in the literature suggest that stearic acid has a neutral effect.

It is uncertain at this time whether saturated fatty acids have other health implications such as those related to diabetes, stroke, body weight and cancer. Nonetheless, it seems clear that saturates are better for cardiovascular health than are trans fatty acids. In fact, replacing trans fatty acids with saturates would result in a comparable total cholesterol to HDL-cholesterol ratio to that resulting from a replacement of trans fatty acids with carbohydrate.

Cost and Availability Issues

What are the cost and availability issues?

The costs associated with reducing the amount of trans fatty acids in the food supply include the cost of the oil itself as well as costs related to product development, consumer testing, marketing, packaging, oil storage and handling, and retooling of the manufacturing process.

While there are differences in the cost of oils, the price of an oil is dictated by an individual supplier. However, ballpark figures indicate that the price of canola ($1.15/kg), soya ($1.22/kg), palm ($1.16/kg), palm olein ($1.18/kg), and palm stearin ($1.10/kg) are usually about the same and all are widely available in Canada. While no figures were presented for cotton, corn, sunflower oil, or modified oils, these are more expensive oils. Other more expensive oils are coconut ($1.32/kg), palm kernel ($1.31), palm kernel olein ($1.24/kg), and palm kernel stearin ($1.94/kg), however, with the exception of coconut and palm kernel stearin, use of these is limited in Canada. Although the impact will vary depending on the individual manufacturer, the price of the oil itself seems to be a relatively minor factor in the actual cost of the final packaged product.

Conclusion

Research to date indicates that there are a number of functional alternatives to high trans partially hydrogenated fats that could be employed in food processing in an effort to reduce the amount of trans fatty acids in the Canadian diet. The concern, however, is that for functionality, the majority of these are still high in saturated fatty acids, which for the most part have negative effects on blood cholesterol levels and therefore cardiovascular disease risk. The focus on reducing trans fatty acids should not obscure the fact that saturated fatty acids are the major source of cholesterol-raising fats in the diet.

References

Institute of Medicine (2002). Report of the Panel on Macronutrients of the Standing Committee on the Scientific Evaluation of Dietary Reference Intakes. Dietary Reference Intakes of Energy, Carbohydrate, Fiber, Fat, Fatty Acids, Cholesterol, Protein, and Amino Acids. The National Academy Press, Washington, DC, pp 8-1-8-97.

Judd JT, Baer DJ, Clevidedence BA, Kris-Etherton P, Muesing RA, Iwane M (2002). Dietary cis and trans monounsaturated and saturated FA and plasma lipids and lipoproteins in men. Lipids 37:123-131.

Ratnayake WMN and Chen ZY (1995). Trans fatty acids in Canadian breast milk and diet. In: Development and Processing of Vegetable Oils for Human Nutrition (eds. Przybylski R and McDonald BE). AOCS Press, pp 20-35.