New oil with zero trans fat could revolutionize frying
By Dan Piller, The Des Moines Register
What may be the next big thing in the quest for the perfect low-fat french fry will sprout from Iowa ground this summer.
Pioneer Hi-Bred says its genetically engineered soybean will make an oil that has no artery-clogging trans fats. The high-oleic oil is supposed to last three to five times longer in commercial fryers than most zero-trans-fat oils.
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The Johnston, Iowa-based company, the second-largest producer of hybrid seeds for agriculture, will put the soybean through tests to determine whether those claims are true. If so, then McDonald's, Frito-Lay and other companies may snap up the oil and promote heart-healthy fried foods and chips.
The consequences for Americans' health could be significant.
"Zero-trans-fat oils are clearly healthier," says David Lemon, a Des Moines, cardiologist. "The American average diet contains 3% trans fats, and the percentage now recommended is 1% or less."
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has required food processors to label foods by the amount of trans fat because medical researchers say trans fats promote bad cholesterol in the bloodstream. That can lead to heart disease.
"Any product that does the job translates into a gain for the population," Lemon says.
Iowa agriculture has a lot at stake in the oil wars, because the state is the nation's largest producer of soybeans.
Americans consume 31 billion pounds of oil a year. Up to 40% of that oil is hydrogenated, meaning high in trans fats.
The FDA has approved the high-oleic soybean. Pioneer hopes to get Department of Agriculture approval to begin selling the soybean to farmers this fall for planting next year.
Most soybean oils require the injection of hydrogen to maintain stability under high heat. Hydrogenation adds trans fats to the oil, however.
The exception is low-linolenic soybean oil, which was developed from research by Fehr and others. The reduction in linolenic acid, which causes the breakdown of the oil in heat, has produced an oil that can remain stable for two to three hours.
The high-oleic oil would take the next step. Oleic acids would block the development of destabilizing linolenic acids.
Boosters of high-oleic oil say it will remain stable three times to 10 times longer than the low-linolenic oils.
