Eliminating trans fats could cost companies $200,000 per product

Hadley Malcolm | USA TODAY

Makers of cake mixes, canned frosting and frozen desserts will have to find alternatives for keeping products shelf stable and appetizing following the Food and Drug Administration's announcement Tuesday that the use of partially hydrogenated oils must be phased out over the next three years.

That ingredient keeps food from going bad and gives it an appealing texture, but is also the main source of trans fats in Americans' diets, which leads to higher cholesterol and risk of heart attack.

Partially hydrogenated oils are found mainly in processed foods, particularly baking items, like those from brands such as Betty Crocker, Pillsbury, Bisquick and Marie Callender's. Other foods that contain hydrogenated oils include margarine sticks, certain brands of microwave popcorn and frozen pizzas.

The FDA estimates the cost of the transition to food manufacturers will be $12 billion to $14 billion. They will have to pay to research and test new ingredients plus reprint labels and repackage products, which could cost up to $200,000 per product, estimates Roger Clemens, a pharmacology professor at University of Southern California.

"It's not a cheap endeavor," he says. "The flaky texture of a croissant, of a pie crust are really expectations. (It) takes a lot of food science to understand the chemistry of those interactions so you can duplicate it without compromising the product."

Many doctors say that trans fats are some of the worst fats that people can consume. Like saturated fats, trans fats raise so-called "bad" LDL cholesterol. But unlike saturated fats, trans fats don't raise the so-called good HDL cholesterol, said Alice Lichtenstein, professor of nutrition science and policy at Tufts University.

Trans fat consumption has declined significantly in the last 10 years — dropping 78% between 2003 and 2012. Yet, an FDA estimate from 2013, the latest year for which it has data, found people were still consuming an average of 1 gram of trans fat per day.

Americans still ingest traces of trans fats due to products that have less than 0.5 grams per serving, which don't have to be labeled as containing trans fats, says Mike Jacobson, executive director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest.

"There's so many of those products, that's how a lot of trans fat gets into the diet, and that's the value of just getting rid of it from everything," he says.

Betty Crocker yellow cake mix, for example, lists 0 grams trans fat on the nutrition label, but the ingredient list says it contains 2% or less of partially hydrogenated soybean and/or cottonseed oil.

There is still between 2 billion and 2.5 billion pounds of partially hydrogenated soybean oil on the market, which is the most common partially hydrogenated oil, according to the United Soybean Board.

Brands that still use partially hydrogenated oils will likely have to turn to more expensive alternatives, such as coconut oil or palm oil. A soybean alternative called high oleic soybean oil, which produces similar results in food as its hydrogenated counterpart without resulting in trans fat, is also expected to become a popular substitution in the next five years pending regulatory approval to expand how much of it farmers can grow.

Consumers largely won't be able to tell the difference when it comes to the way food tastes, food science experts say.

"Coconut oil is really, really popular right now," says Rosemary Trout, a professor of food science at Drexel University. She adds that tropical oils give products a shelf life comparable to what partially hydrogenated oils deliver.

More than 95% of products from General Mills, which owns Betty Crocker, Pillsbury and Bisquick, are labeled as having 0 grams trans fat, and the company is already working on eliminating trans fats from the remaining products, says spokeswoman Kirstie Foster.

Pinnacle Foods Group, which owns baking brand Duncan Hines, says 90% of its products are free of trans fats.

"Over the past several years, in response to consumer interest, we have eliminated added trans fats from the vast majority of our portfolio," the company said in a statement. "We are currently working to remove any remaining added trans fats from our brands."

General Mills and Pinnacle both said they didn't have details to share regarding how much the changes will cost.

Given how many fast-food restaurants and food manufacturers have already moved away from trans fats — which can also be found in deep-fried foods — Jacobson says those that still haven't gotten rid of it may just be "lazy or having a little difficulty getting rid of it.

"I can't imagine there's something so unique about those products that the oil can't be replaced with a healthier one," he says. "The taste difference must be trivial. All these other companies have changed."

Contributing: Liz Szabo