Trans fat scenario in Argentina: legislation, consumption, and potential replacement solutions

Abstract

The increase in the degree of saturation of fatty acids byhydrogenation has been widely employed in the food industry since thebeginning of the last century. In partial hydrogenation, trans fatty acid arealso formed, the formation of which improves functional properties suchas melting point, texture and shelf life. Scientific studies performedwithin the last 25 years have proved the harmful effects of dietary intakeof trans fatty acids produced during hydrogenation on cardiovascularhealth. Although trans-fat are considered good from the technologicalpoint of view, they must be avoided regarding health effects. Thesestudies resulted in regulatory changes through legislation and actions ofdifferent agencies in different countries around the world. The first mainaction to reduce trans-fat was the one taken by the U. S. Food and DrugAdministration (FDA) in 2003. It required labeling the amount of transfats in food products starting in 2006. On June 16th 2015, the FDAofficially concluded that partially hydrogenated oils are not assumedto be safe for human consumption and therefore they will no longerbelong to the generally recognized as safe (GRAS) category. FDA gavecompanies three years to remove the ingredients containing trans-fator to apply for permission to use them. In Latin America, the 2003FDA resolution has been harmonized in Mercosur (Argentina, Brasil,Paraguay, and Uruguay). The Pan American Health Organization(PAHO) recommended a threshold limit of less than 2% of total fat astrans fatty acids in vegetable oils and soft, spreadable margarines and lessthan 5% for all other foods. In Argentina, PAHO proposal was acceptedin 2010 and the limits started applying from December 2014. However,partial hydrogenated vegetable oils were not banned yet. These limits donot apply to the ruminant fats, including milk fat. The formulation ofcookies, chocolate fillings, ice creams, and chocolate toppings are thegreatest challenge for the food industry. In these types of applications, thedifficulties are related to technological issues and the very high cost ofraw materials used as trans-fat substitutes. In this chapter data ofconsumption before and after 2014 rule are presented. Although manyefforts to replace trans-fat have been done, in products such as cookiestrans-fat are still present in amounts higher than recommended. InArgentina, the prefer solution depends on products requirements. Inproducts that do not need solids for appropriate texture, mostmanufacturers replaced trans-fat with vegetable oils having highoxidative stability such as high-oleic sunflower oil. When solids arerequired, animal fat (fat from rendering) is used. This is the case ofproducts such as sponge cakes and cookies.