Kraft Foods, Nestlé USA and ConAgra are touting their efforts to cut trans fat to meet the Food & Drug Administration’s Jan. 1 deadline for trans fat labeling on-pack.
Kraft has reformulated about 650 products, leaving only about 2.5% of its portfolio with trans fat; those products, mostly cheese and meat, will carry FDA-required labeling.
Kraft’s multi-year process cut trans fats primarily in cereal, cookies, crackers, pizza, desserts, meals, and Oscar Mayer brands. Sales for some, like Triscuit, have increased since new formulations rolled out.
“As part of Kraft’s broader health and wellness initiatives, we’re continually working on ways to enhance the nutritional profiles of our products,” said Kraft senior VP-Global Health & Wellness Lance Friedmann in a statement.
“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, executive VP-global technology & quality, in a statement.
Kraft reportedly will sell down existing inventories of Oreos before shipping its zero-trans fat version in early 2006. The new recipe uses a blend of canola and palm oils.
Kraft continues to work on eliminating trans fat in products sold outside the U.S.
Nestlé Prepared Foods Co. has cut all trans fat from 87% of its Lean Cuisine and Stouffer’s frozen meals. (Products with meat and cheese still have trans fat.)
“We conducted regular research with our consumers to be sure that our changes did not alter their enjoyment of the products,” said Nestlé VP-Product Development Liz Pretzlav in a statement.
Meanwhile, ConAgra will cut trans fat from Orville Redenbacher’s and ACT II microwave popcorn, with zero-trans fat versions hitting stores in February. The shift encompasses a total of 120 products across both brands.
ConAgra plans to cut trans fat from most products in its portfolio by 2007. It has already cut trans fat from all its soft margarine brands (Fleischmann’s, Parkay, Blue Bonnet).
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