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3 ways to prep for the ban on trans fat

Foodservice operators can prepare for the June 6 ban by taking a few necessary steps.

July 1, 2015 by Betsy Craig — pres, menutrinfo.com

It can be a shock to our clients when they find out that the ingredients they use for certain menu items actually contain trans fats. It's not that they misread the label; trans fats under a certain percent do not have to be singled out on nutritional disclosures.

This is because trans fats, or partially hydrogenated oils (PHOs), do not have to be labeled if they contain less than 0.5 grams of trans fat per serving. This tends to mislead consumers, chefs and members of the foodservice industry because trans fats do actually exist in almost everything. In fact, according to the Environmental Working Group (EWG), 87 percent of products that contain PHOs list 0 trans fat on their labels.

The new federal ban on trans fat that passed June 6 is looking to address this issue, and many more.The good news is the FDA has given operators three years to make the change in order to allow companies to reformulate the products that use these oils or to allow certain companies to petition the FDA to permit certain uses of them.

Naturally occurring trans fats can be found in small amounts in meat and dairy products, which is another reason why the three-year time span will be beneficial: it will give the industry time to look at where the naturally occurring trans fats are and where they are not.

The federal government is taking such a hard stand on the issue in effort to reduce coronary heart further prevent the high number of heart attacks that occur each year. This is because there is no health benefit to trans fat in any way. The main purpose of these PHOs is to increase a products shelf life and make certain foods easier to cook with.

Foodservice operators can prepare for the ban by taking these few necessary steps:

• Find out what ingredients you use that have trans fat. Review your menu items and look for labels that include the term 'partially hydrogenated oils. Make a list of those products and review the ones that need to be replaced with trans-fat free alternatives.
• Start sourcing alternate products. Ask your suppliers about where you might find a sufficient substitute product at an attractive price point. Sometimes these alternative products come at a higher price so look for options that keep your food costs as low as possible without sacrificing quality and taste. Find alternatives such as products that contain soy oil and that work as well as the original, yet easy to replace.
•  Make the right statement about your menu.

Keep in mind that there is also going to be a whole lot of confusion over naturally occurring trans fats as compared to artificial trans fat. We have been dealing with customers who have believed their menu items have been trans-fat free only for them to learn that these items do actually have a percent of PHOs. Part of our job now is to make sure what our clients are communicating on and about their menu is as accurate as possible.

New York was ahead of the curve when it enacted a trans fat ban in 2008; however, the ban falls short because there is no one in place to govern the ban or whether food service establishments are in compliance. I anticipate that this will change over the next three years, both at the federal and consumer level. There is no greater watchdog than consumers and they will not hesitate to call out a brand they feel is misleading the public.

About Betsy Craig

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To date MenuTrinfo is responsible for menu nutritional information at over 100K US restaurants, food allergy and gluten free ANAB accredited training for hundreds of thousands of food service professionals. AllerTrain is the chosen food allergy training by NEHA providing continuing educational credit hours for those that take and pass its course. Finally, MenuTrinfo delivers food allergy confidence and allergen transparency to today’s food allergic consumer through its onsite division offerings, AllerCheck, Certified Free From allergens for spaces and food products which is an ISO 17065 certification and expert consultation and incident response support when needed.

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