Cargill First to Announce Elimination of Trans Fats From Its Edible Oil Supply

Cargill is the first of the top three edible oil suppliers to announce plans to eliminate trans fats from its edible oil supply to comply with the World Health Organization’s goal of phasing out the substance from global diets by the end of 2023.

While trans fats exist in minor amounts in certain dairy products and meats, most are byproducts from industrial processes that add hydrogen to vegetable oil to lengthen its shelf life. Trans fats raise the risk for heart attacks, strokes, and type 2 diabetes, and are commonly found in baked and fried foods, doughnuts, french fries, snacks, and convenience foods.

The U.S. has already banned trans fats, but Cargill stated that bans such as this exist in only 40 of the 195 countries in the world. And by making this announcement, the company hopes to spark change among its competitors at an industry level.

Cargill produces soybean, palm, coconut, palm kernel, sunflower, canola, and olive oil, along with multiple specialty oils. The remaining two top edible oil suppliers - ADM and Bunge - have not issued any response as to their plans on eliminating trans fats from their supplies as of yet.

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