Brooker Laboratories Addresses How to Deal with Naturally Occurring Trans Fat on Food Labels

Long Beach, CA (PRWEB) May 29, 2008 -- Trans fats occur naturally in ruminant animals like cows, goats and sheep. A recent study has shown that naturally occurring trans fats, such as vaccenic acid found in butter fat, may actually be good for your health.1 As more research is conducted on this subject food manufacturers may want to capitalize on the positive press about naturally occurring trans fats. Products traditionally high in butter and cream, like cheesecake, have to list trans fats even though they do not contain any partially hydrogenated fats or oils. For these products it would be misleading to list trans fats as zero on the food label. Here are some ideas on how food manufacturers can deal with naturally occurring trans fats.

Factual statements such as "No Added Fat or Oils that contain Trans Fat", "Trans Fats present in this product are naturally occurring" and "do not come from chemical alteration of the food" should be okay. However, please note that all claims, whether factual or implied, must be truthful and non-misleading and comply with general FDA regulations governing claims, as well as the product-specific & agency-specific rules and regulations.

Serving size reductions to bring the trans fats per serving to less than 0.5g will allow you to round down to zero grams trans fat on the food label nutrition facts panel. Serving sizes still must comply with general FDA regulations regarding serving size determinations.

Reformulating products to include a portion of the fats and oils from vegetable sources that are not partially hydrogenated. This is another way to reduce trans fat levels to below 0.5 grams per serving and round them down to zero on the nutrition facts.

For more ideas on how to deal with naturally occurring trans fats and other FDA regulatory issues you may contact Daniel J. Brooker at Brooker Laboratories (http://www.brookerlaboratories.com). Brooker Laboratories specializes in nutritional analysis and FDA food label regulatory compliance reviews.

1.    AFNS. Alberta natural trans fat research earns global recognition. Apr 2,

2008. (http://www.brookerlaboratories.com)http:// (www.brookerlaboratories.com)

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