The Culinary Institute of America

New York City recently passed a sweeping ban on trans fats–the dangerous fats that are found in partially hydrogenated oils—a ban that will affect 20,000 restaurants and 14,000 food suppliers. Similar laws are being considered in other cities across the US. Partially hydrogenated oils are currently used in many applications, from baking and frying. Replacing them poses an enormous challenge for the foodservice industry. Are you ready? The Culinary Institute of America, in association wi...more

As research into the health risks of trans fats turns up new dangers… And as a growing number of local, state, and federal agencies consider bans on trans fats… The food service industry faces a pressure challenge: to dramatically reduce or eliminate partially hydrogenated oils and the trans fats they contain. For some operations, the change may simply require switching from partially hydrogenated frying oil to trans free oil. For others, the task may be much more complex… Download...more

What are trans fats? And why have they become so ubiquitous in the food supply? Trans fats are created during the process called partial hydrogenation, which was first discovered in the early 1900s. Partial hydrogenation turns unsaturated liquid plant oil into a solidified shortening with the qualities of butter or animal fat. Partial hydrogenation also makes liquid plant oils more stable, increasing their shelf-life and the length of time they can be used for frying. Download Podcast Video

One reason trans fats are dangerous is their effect on cholesterol levels. The ideal for lowering heart disease risk is to keep levels of LDL, the so-called bad cholesterol, down and levels of HDL, or good cholesterol up. Even small amounts of trans fats appear to be harmful. As little as 20 calories worth of trans fats a day can have a negative effect on cholesterol, for example. Recent studies suggest that a 2 percent increase in energy intake from trans fats increases the risk of coronary hea...more

Because partially hydrogenated oils offer so many benefits—from low cost and longer shelf-life to semi-solid consistency at room temperature—they have found their way into thousands of foods. Until recently, in fact, virtually all the oil used for frying was partially hydrogenated oils. But there are many other ‘hidden” sources of trans fats, since partially hydrogenated oils are used in so many applications in the food service industry. Tucker Bunch, a chef at the Culinary Institute o...more

There is no single solution, of course, since partially hydrogenated oils fill so many functions. One challenge is replacing partially hydrogenated oils in frying operations. Another challenge is locating pre-prepared foods that are free of trans fats. Perhaps the biggest challenge the industry faces is finding healthy alternatives to partially hydrogenated shortenings in baking, which depends on solid fats for many offerings. Fortunately, as evidence of the dangers of trans fats has accumulated...more

For liquid oil applications, one of the simplest ways to eliminate trans fats is to switch from partially hydrogenated to unhydrogenated vegetable oils, such as canola, soybean, peanut, olive, or sunflower oil. Download Podcast Video

Developing trans-free alternatives for solid fats has proved an even greater challenge than replacing liquid oils. One approach is to use fully-hydrogenated oils, usually in combination with non-hydrogenated oil. Fully hydrogenated oil may seem like a surprising alternative. But in fact, the process of fully hydrogenating vegetable oils does not cause the formation of trans fats. Studies show that fully hydrogenated fats do not adversely affect cholesterol levels. Download Podcast Video

By far the easiest place to reduce the use of partially hydrogenated oils is in frying. A wide variety of choices are now available, from unhydrogenated cooking oils to new more stable alternatives made with low linoleic soybean oil or high oleic oils. In some cases, in fact, the new trans free frying oils actually offer practical advantages to the partially hydrogenated oils they’ve been designed to replace. Download Podcast Video

Unfortunately, fried foods have gotten an undeserved bad name in recent years. It’s worth taking a moment to dispel some myths about fats, oils, and fried foods. During the low-fat craze of the 1980s, many nutrition experts advised people to reduce fats of all kinds. Fat, the thinking went, was making people fat. Fats of all kinds were viewed by many Americans as bad. Consumption of dietary fat declined from about 40 percent of calories in 1960 to only about 33 percent today. But the anti-fat ...more