Mmm, doughnuts. Also frosting. And microwave popcorn. And cookies. They all have in common one thing. Well, two things, if you count "being delicious." But they all depend on a particular kind of oil for their flaky, creamy, last-for-months-at-room-temperature goodness. The problem is, those oils---called partially hydrogenated---are about to be outlawed.
Over the next three years, the FDA has asked food manufacturers to phase out trans fats for good. It's the beginning of the end of a decade-long trend---American trans fat consumption declined by 78 percent between 2003 and 2012, and many processed foods already use alternatives. But many microwave popcorn, crackers, and cookies all still use the stuff. And why not? A century ago scientists figured out that adding hydrogen to oil would turn that oil solid at room temperature---and that these partially hydrogenated oils made a hearty, cheap replacement for lard. You could fry doughnuts and potatoes in it, add it to fillings like the white stuff in Oreos, and use it again and again. And it lasted forever, compared to animal fat.
But it also has “no known health benefits,” according to the FDA, and is linked to obesity, memory loss, heart disease, decreased “good” and increased “bad" cholesterol, and other health woes. The American Heart Association says people should limit trans fat consumption to 2 grams or less per day. But one tablespoon of Land O' Lakes margarine has three, a slice of store-bought Marie Callender’s Chocolate Satin Pie has four, and an order of Carl’s Jr. Biscuits’N’Gravy packs seven. So the FDA is finally saying no more. At least, not without their approval first.
So...what will people eat instead? “Making a product that forms crystals at room temperature and melts at body temperature---that essentially melts in your mouth, but not in your hand?" says Bruce German, director of UC Davis' Foods for Health Institute. "That’s tough to do.”
The problem is that trans fat-laden foods have a very particular set of skills. "Those are products that depend a lot on mouth feel, not just taste,” says Tom Brenna, a chemist who works on nutrition at Cornell University. “It may well be that changing over to another kind of fat is just very difficult.”
Fried foods might get off easy; it's relatively easy to find a substitute oil that'll work at high heat. But spreadable products? That's a tougher problem.
Food makers could go old school and use butter or lard. They work well, they taste good, and nutritionists have rehabilitated their image in the past few years. But vegans and vegetarians can't eat them, and they have a much shorter shelf life than trans fats.
One popular replacement is tropical oils. Chemists know how to fractionate them, which is to say separate out the liquid and solid components and then take only what they need for the textural effects they want in baking or processed foods. They also know how to fully hydrogenate palm oil and coconut oil---fully hydrogenated oils aren't anywhere near as bad for you as partially hydrogenated ones, and mixed with unhydrogenated oils can replicate some of the firmness of a trans fat.
But palm oil also kills the planet. Production contributes to deforestation and pollution, and its manufacture is famous for workers' rights violations. Sustainably sourced palm oil exists, but the market will have a hard time keeping up with the increased demand. Worse news: As with fellow saturated fats like butter, palm oil boosts unhealthy LDL cholesterol.
Maybe science can get food processing out of this jam. Synthetic biologists now tout genetically engineered algae that produces oil; a company called Solazyme makes one that is supposed to work for frying, spray oils, and other products. The company also says that consumers can't taste it, or find any aftertaste "pleasant." But it's not on sale yet, and so far it's yet to be seen if the market has much demand for expeller-pressed, genetically-engineered algae oil.
Another approach might be altering a more classic source of oil. Monsanto---a company with a proven track record in genetically modifying plants, no matter what you think of how good an idea that is---is testing an engineered soybean it calls "Vistive Gold." You can get oil from it, just like other soya, but where conventional soybean oil is 15 percent saturated fat, Vistive Gold-derived oil tops out at 6 percent. Hey, it could work. “Customers often prefer flavors they grew up with, which has largely come from soybeans,” says Sarah Vacek, Monsanto's soybean quality traits and products manager. The company is growing Vistive Gold on a small scale, awaiting regulatory approval for possible full-scale production next year.
The FDA says any stress about finding a replacement is worth it. The ban, says the agency, could cost the food industry $6.2 billion over two decades as companies reformulate products and find substitute ingredients. But the improved public health saves $140 billion over the same period. And the FDA specifically put a three-year timeline on the change so the oilseed industry could catch up and develop new oils and blends.
“We have technology at our disposal to create new oils in the same way we create new apple varieties and the way a wolf turns into a Chihuahua, which is to say traditional breeding methods,” Brenna says. “We’re assisted by our modern knowledge of biology and knowing what plants to cross. In other words, we have in our command a lot more technology to be able to create oils that will fit the bill.” The cookies and frosting won't disappear, in other words. They're just going to change.