Going Beyond Zero Trans Fat

What’s the difference between Omega-9 Oils and other frying oils from a health perspective? About 80%. That’s how much restaurants can reduce bad fat in their dishes by using Omega-9 Oils.

Omega-9 Oils are healthier because they have zero trans fat and the lowest amount of saturated fats among oils, allowing restaurants to reduce “bad” (trans and sat) fats by up to 80% when replacing partially hydrogenated soybean oil. Omega-9 Oils are “next generation” because they are uniquely high (>70%) in monounsaturated (good) fats, but also have a number of other benefits:

• Saturated fat and trans fat both raise LDL (bad) cholesterol, which increases the risk of developing coronary heart disease. In fact, according to Dr. Walter Willett, Harvard School of Public Health, trans fat, and its resulting damage to heart health, alone is responsible for an estimated 30,000 premature deaths in the United States each year.
• In addition to having zero trans fat, Omega-9 Oils also have the lowest amount of saturated fat (<7%) among zero trans fat oil alternatives like palm oil (50%), cottonseed oil (27%), regular soybean oil (16%), low linolenic soybean oil (16%) and corn oil (14%).
• Recently, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved a Qualified Health Claim for canola oil that states that replacing about 1½ tablespoons (19 grams) of oil with canola oil daily may reduce the risk of coronary heart disease due to the unsaturated fat content.
• Omega-9 Canola Oil can deliver a zero trans fat AND lowest saturated fat claim on menus or labels.

Over the years, there have been a series of actions by the FDA and other groups to identify, restrict and, eventually, ban the use of trans fat.

• In 1993, the FDA took the first step when they required that saturated fat and dietary cholesterol be listed on food labels. By January 1, 2006, laws stated that trans fat content also had to be listed on food labels in both the United States and Canada.
• In the end of 2008, California became the first state to prohibit trans fat in restaurants. Cities like Philadelphia, Boston, Baltimore, Seattle and New York over the last several years have also passed legislation to eliminate trans fat from their area restaurants.