February 11, 2003
HEALTH
Consumer Reports Finds
Trans Fats in Many Foods
Range of Packaged Foods May Contain
The Substance, but Labels Rarely Say So
By CARL BIALIK
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL ONLINE
Spotlighting the hidden presence of trans fats in many popular packaged foods, Consumer Reports magazine has found substantial amounts of the unhealthy substance in items including breakfast cereal and frozen waffles.
Many food researchers and health experts say trans fat is more harmful than saturated fat, because while both forms of fat raise the level of "bad" cholesterol, known as LDL, trans fat also lowers the level of "good" cholesterol, or HDL.
This effect can increase the risk of heart disease. Although Americans eat five times as much saturated fat as trans fat, some researchers blame excess intake of trans fat, also called trans-fatty acids, for thousands of deaths in the U.S. annually. Trans-fatty acids are created by hydrogenating vegetable oil, which solidifies it.
The report comes as the Food and Drug Administration is deciding how to require food manufacturers to label the trans-fat content of their products. Food makers aren't required by regulators to reveal how much trans fat their products contain. The agency plans to publish a final rule early this year, perhaps in March, according to a spokeswoman. Labeling laws wouldn't take effect until a year after that.
The Consumer Reports study is unlikely to affect the FDA's decision-making process, but it may add to the pressure on food makers to reformulate their products to reduce the amount of trans fat.
For the study, appearing in the March edition of the magazine, Consumer Reports researchers tested 30 top-selling foods. Scientists have long known that deep-fried foods, including French fries and dessert pies, contained large amounts of trans fat, but this study found it in less-obvious products. For instance, the magazine found 1.5 grams of trans fat per portion in both Kellogg Co.'s Cracklin' Oat Bran breakfast cereal and in the Battle Creek, Mich., company's Eggo frozen buttermilk waffles.
Kellogg didn't return a call seeking comment.
The magazine didn't contact the manufacturers to see if they disagreed with its findings. "We do respond to all complaints made by manufacturers who disagree with our test findings," a Consumer Reports spokeswoman said.
Food processors already are under pressure to shift away from trans fats. PepsiCo Inc.'s Frito-Lay, whose tortilla chips were found in the study to have some trans fat, said last fall it would be reformulating some products by early this year. Fast-food companies have also responded to pressure from nutrition activists to reformulate their products. McDonald's Corp. announced in September that it would cut the amount of saturated and trans fats in its French fries.
The magazine offered tips for recognizing trans fats, even when they aren't apparent on the label. For instance, consumers should suspect foods that include shortening, commercial baked goods, and deep-fried foods, although there are some prominent exceptions, including potato chips. If food labels list the amount of saturated, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats, trans fat is likely to be the difference between the sum of those and the total fat listed. Companies aren't required to break out the nonsaturated fat, and most don't.
Most claims on products (apart from nutritional label) don't take into account trans fat; so, for instance, "extra lean" foods may be high in trans fat. The FDA intends to revise that.
The FDA is considering a number of options for how to label trans-fat content, including the use of a footnote that would read, "Intake of trans fats should be as low as possible."
The Grocery Manufacturers of America, which speaks for packaged-food makers, says the group doesn't object to mandatory labeling of trans-fat content, but takes issue with that footnote. "We feel that overemphasizing that one nutrient would be to the detriment of customers paying attention to the rest of the nutritional label," a spokeswoman said. The trade group also claims that singling out trans fat would pressure manufacturers to replace it with saturated fat, which it says is equally bad.
Write to Carl Bialik at carl.bialik@wsj.com5
URL for this article:
online.wsj.com |
