Food Industry Perspective on Eliminating Trans Fats in Food Products

Awareness of the Issue

There is a high awareness among Canada's food industry of the issues associated with trans fat.

• Mandatory label declaration-98% of the food industry respondents were aware of the labelling regulations that require mandatory declaration of trans fats in the Nutrition Facts panel of pre-packaged food products by mid-December 2005.
• Parliamentary motion-96% were aware of the parliamentary motion introduced in 2004 concerning the reduction or elimination of industrially produced TFAs in food products.
• Issues raised by customers and suppliers-82% of food manufacturers indicated that their customers (retailers, food service, other processors) or their suppliers had raised the TFA issue, with more customers than suppliers having done so.

Compliance with Labelling Legislation

Only 19% of the food companies indicated that introduction of mandatory nutrition labelling had been a major factor in the company's decision to reduce or eliminate TFAs.

• Most (76%) expected to be in compliance with mandatory trans fat labelling requirements by the end of 2005, whereas 7% did not expect to meet the deadline.
• Compliance obstacles include: labelling-related issues (cost of nutritional analysis, cost of new labelling equipment and printing); availability of non-TFA solutions; lack of information; and limited time available for compliance.
• Leading food companies were either in compliance, or expected to be by the deadline, having started on this initiative well in advance of the requirement.
• While small companies with under $1 million in sales have an additional 2 years to comply, small companies with sales over this threshold face significant challenges.

Company Goals

While trans fat reduction is seen to be an issue for a number of pastry products, the plan most food companies (68%) have to reduce TFAs in food products varies according to the product line.

In general:

• 47% were planning to reduce TFAs to a level that would allow a "trans fat free" claim;
• 29% were aiming to be in compliance with regulations on labelling, but not necessarily to reduce or eliminate TFAs;
• 23% were planning to eliminate TFAs, or to eliminate them where possible; and
• 3% were reducing TFAs but not low enough to make a "trans fat free" claim.

Sources of Information

• 71% of the food companies interviewed have a technical team working on the TFA issue. The rest either do not have a team, or have only one person such as the owner-operator working on the issue (particularly true with smaller food manufacturers).
• 60% of the manufacturers indicated that their suppliers of fats and oils have assisted with solutions to reduce the amount of trans fats.

Approaches Being Used or Considered

Many of the food companies indicated that elimination or substantial reduction of trans fats would result in a change in their products or in their product line, with 22% expecting a major change and 19% expecting a potential or possible change.

Companies were found to be using a combination of the three tactics probed: producing line extensions (continuing to produce the traditional product as well as a "trans fat free" reducing TFAs only in existing products; and focusing only on reducing TFAs in new products.

Several approaches are available to reduce trans fats. The respondents indicated that:

• 67% would use different fats and oils;
• 20% would use primarily different processes and/or formulations;
• 8% would use a combination of fats or blends, processes and input materials; and
• 5% would use different input materials.

Canola oil and palm or modified palm oil were by far the most likely mentioned replacements for trans fats, followed distantly by 11 other types including non-hydrogenated canola and soybean oil. Almost one quarter (24%) indicated they were planning to investigate non-fat substitutes in some of their formulations; emulsifiers, modified starch and gums were specifically mentioned.

Business-Related Impacts

• All companies interviewed see this as an important business issue, with 38% considering it to be a "top priority", 23% calling it "very important", and 38% "important".
• They view reduction of TFAs as being necessary to remain competitive, but with all companies moving in the same direction, 49% did not believe it would provide a competitive advantage, whereas 24% did.
• 44% are not planning to specifically introduce a new product with reduced TFAs. Yet, for some companies any new product launched will be a TFA-reduced product.

Production-Related Impacts

TFAs are a significant business concern for Canada's food industry. For the food companies surveyed (excluding fat and oil suppliers):

• On average, 52% of product lines (or business volumes) are affected by TFAs.
• For 29% of the companies, the TFA issue affects over 90% of their business volume.

Respondents indicated other impacts related to reduction or elimination of TFAs:

• 62% mentioned having to change product formulation; a few mentioned only having to change the fats and oils used.
• 31% have had to invest in, or expect to invest in, new equipment (such as handling equipment, processing equipment, and labelling and printing equipment).
• While 31% did not expect to make a change in food manufacturing procedures (such as longer baking time, or different temperatures) with formulations that have reduced TFAs, an additional 60% were still unsure.

The TFA issue is expected to increase costs for food manufacturers: 75% indicated that TFA-reduced products have higher input costs; only 4% indicated no cost effect. The major areas of higher costs include the fats and oils, supply chain costs, and loss of production efficiencies.

The main problems encountered by food industry can be grouped into the following areas:

• food product attributes (matching the existing products for taste, colour and texture);
• functionality (finding non-trans alternatives that work);
• availability of TFA alternatives (insufficient volumes available);
• new processes associated with TFA alternatives (reformulation, storage adjustments);
• labelling issues (labelling input costs, supporting analytical tests);
• marketing and product positioning; and
• costs incurred.

Availability of TFA Alternatives

Just under two thirds (63%) have been able to find TFA alternatives through their suppliers, while 22% indicated they have not. Comments centred on availability or functionality of alternatives, responsiveness of suppliers, and length of time spent on resolving the TFA issue.

The ease of replacing TFAs with substitutes (in terms of functionality and product attributes) was reported to differ by product.

Product-Related Impacts

By reducing TFAs, respondents expected to face product-related impacts in the areas of flavour, texture, shelf life issues and product stability.

Many of the food companies (58%) indicated encountering challenges related to labelling of trans fats. The comments centred on:

• knowledge of the standards associated with labels;
• costs associated with labelling (reanalysis, printing equipment, printing costs);
• complexity of the task;
• harmonization with the U.S.; and
• labelling and communicating with consumers (difficulty labelling products made in-store; consumer perception that trans fat content must be zero).