Trans fatty acids content of vegetable oil spreads and margarines in the USA (LB385)

Abstract

Historically vegetable oils spreads and margarines (“spreads”) contained significant amounts of trans fatty acids (TFAs) from partially hydrogenated vegetable oils (PHVOs). Our goal was to survey the US marketplace and determine the amount of TFAs and the use of PHVOs in spreads.We sampled 43 spreads in 2011 and 46 spreads in 2013 and we measured TFAs by capillary gas chromatography. We searched for PHVOs in the ingredient declaration.From 2011 to 2013, the mean TFAs content of spreads per 14g serving decreased from 0.51 g to 0.30 g (p=0.11). As a comparison, it was 1.7 g per 14 g serving in 2002 [1]. TFAs per 14 g serving decreased both in soft spreads (from 0.29 g to 0.13 g; p<0.05) and in stick products (from 1.62 g to 0.98 g; p=0.16). In 2013, 6 out of 11 manufacturers were no longer using PHVOs. Out of the 9 spreads found with PHVOs in 2013, 6 were private label and 4 were stick products.Compared to 2002, the average TFAs content of spreads was markedly reduced by 70% by 2011 and 82% by 2013 to an average of 0.30g per 14g serving. Most manufactures of branded products, notably Unilever and GAF, provide products without PHVOs. Some private label spreads and some stick products still contain significant amounts of PHVOs. At the end of 2013, 80% of the national volume of branded spreads was free of industrial trans fats. [1] Satchithanandam et al. Lipids 2004;39(1):11‐18.Grant Funding Source: Support for the analytical work was provided by Unilever