KFC’s Trans Fat Ban: The Shape of Things to Come?

KFC’s decision to ban trans fat in its fried chicken doesn’t necessarily sound the death knell for trans fat in the American diet, but it likely will accelerate an already maddening dash toward a trans fat-free diet, says one expert.

The fried chicken giant announced today that it will replace the trans fat-laden hydrogenated oils it uses to cook its chicken and potato wedges with a healthier soybean oil by April 2007.

“It certainly puts pressure on restaurants, particularly restaurant chains, to try and find some alternatives,” says Dr. Robert Keith, an Alabama Cooperative Extension System nutritionist and Auburn University professor of nutrition and food science.

“One thing is certain --- there is a lot of pressure from public groups and the public in general for trans fat alternatives.”

How much pressure these restaurants ultimately will feel will likely depend on how much trans fat they have in their food and what kinds of food they sell, Keith says. Major hamburger chains, such as McDonalds, have been under immense pressure in recent years to clean up their act, particularly in the way they prepare French fries. However, one major challenge, until now, apparently has been finding trans fat replacements that did not compromise taste.

Even so, Keith says, hamburger restaurants have enjoyed at least one advantage over KFC --- the fact that only side items, such as French fries, have been prepared with trans fat. KFC, on the other hand, was under much greater pressure because its main entrée --- its world famous fried chicken --- was prepared with fat-laden hydrogenated oils.

In one sense, the tidal wave of change associated with the public’s perception of trans fat and its role in the diet is not surprising, Keith says. Within the last few decades, there have been other cases where outcries from public watchdog groups or the general public have forced food processors to undertake drastic changes in the way food is prepared or monitored along the processing chain.

“We’ve known for a long time that trans fat was not good for us,” Keith says. “But recently, the public pressure has been exerted to such a degree that food processors have had no other choice but to take notice and follow through with changes.”

One major factor behind this dramatic change --- at least among food processors --- has been food labeling, Keith says. Food manufacturers have less incentive than ever to use trans fats in food ingredients when federal law requires that these be printed on food labels.

Even so, Keith says consumers should bear in mind that the progress made in reducing trans fat is no excuse to eat more fried foods, which tend to be loaded in saturated fats.

“This doesn’t change the overall guidelines for consuming fat,” he says.

Federal dietary guidelines still recommend that Americans consume only about 30 percent of their total calories from fat and no more than 10 percent from saturated fat.

“Saturated fat is by no means the good guy,” Keith says. “Yes, we’ve found out that trans fat may be just as bad or worse, but saturated fats are just as big a factor behind heart disease.”

Posted by Jim Langcuster at October 30, 2006 04:56 PM | TrackBack