The Korean food industry is in a race against time to eliminate trans fats, whose time has clearly come after New York banned them from fast food chains as of July next year and in all restaurants from July 2008. Food manufacturers here now consider eliminating trans fatty acids, which have been linked to cardiovascular disease such as clogged arteries, their top priority. The government has revised food labeling standards to make it compulsory to show the amount of trans fats from December next year, when products that still contain them may find no customers. It has not been determined what the domestic food labeling standard will be, but the U.S. Food and Drug Administration says food products that contain less than 0.5 g of trans fats can claim to contain 0 percent.
◆ Race to reduce trans fats
Korean companies are investing the equivalent of their counterparts in advanced nations into reducing the cholesterol bombs in their products. Lotte Samkang, the no. 1 manufacturer of margarine and shortenings here, spent W130 billion (US$1=W914) on manufacturing facilities to reduce trans fats in its oil and fat products. They started making products that can lay claim to the label “0 percent trans fats” under the U.S. standard last year. As a result, sales of low-trans fat oil and fat products skyrocketed from W30 billion last year to W100 billion this year. Major customers include Lotteria, Lotte Confectionery, Haitai Confectionery, Crown Confectionery, Paris Croissant and Popeyes, who use its oil and fat in bread and snacks.
Orion, famous for its Choco Pie, says research work since 2002 now allows it to claim that more than 95 percent of its products contain 0 percent trans fats. Haitai also worked hard to reduce the percentage of trans fats to 0.7 g on average as of June this year and says it aims at 0.5 g by the end of this year.
◆ Headaches
Partially hydrogenated oils are semi-solid and thus make it easier to preserve products without refrigerating them; they keep potato chips crispy and cakes soft at room temperature for longer. "If we reduce the level of trans fats to zero, it strips our products of the crispy flavor and makes them stale in some cases, so this had us worried,” a Lotte Confectionery staffer claims. The priority of food manufacturers here and around the world is to maintain the consistency of their products. "It is trans fats that make breads and snacks crispy and sweet, and the core of our technology is to keep our products tasting the same as before while lowering trans fats,” a Lotte Samkang official claims.
In short, it is an uphill struggle. Some smaller businesses in the industry deliberately buy fat with plenty of trans fats to compete with their larger competitors and lure customers by making their products more “tasty.” An industry insider says some restaurants and small food manufacturing companies buy oil products high in trans fats to maintain flavor.
