Cracker makers chip away at fat content

By David L. Harris, Globe Correspondent, 10/22/2003

Crackers without hydrogenated oil are popping up on supermarket shelves on the heels of the Food and Drug Administration's recent actions requiring the listing of trans fat content by Jan. 1, 2006. Small and gourmet manufacturers have replaced the commonly used trans fat, a Crisco-like shortening, with natural oils. Meanwhile, many name brand manufacturers are working to develop crackers without trans fats.

Companies such as Annie's Homegrown of Wakefield and Kashi, the maker of the popular cereal, are already offering new crackers made with canola, safflower, or sunflower oils. For health-conscious consumers, this is good news, since products with partially hydrogenated oil -- common in commercial baked goods -- have higher trans fat levels than those without the ingredient. Partial hydrogenation involves turning liquid oils into solid fats like shortening, increasing the product's shelf life. Trans fats, which have been shown to increase bad cholesterol (LDL) and decrease good cholesterol (HDL), occur during the process of partial hydrogenation, according to the FDA website.

Annie's Homegrown, founded in 1989 by Annie Withey of Smartfood popcorn fame, has just added Cheddar Bunnies, a rabbit-shaped cheddar cheese cracker, to its popular line of macaroni-and-cheese products. The bunnies have a Pepperidge Farm goldfish quality, but with whole wheat flour and better fat.

The grain and cereal company Kashi, owned by Kellogg Co., just came out with four varieties of crackers without trans fats, called TLC ("tiny little crackers"). Trader Joe's also has a few different nonhydrogenated crackers, as does Barbara's Bakery, a Petaluma, Calif.-based cereal and snack foods manufacturer owned by British cereal giant Weetabix. The company makes three types of crackers, including a whole wheat, safflower oil-based version of the saltine and a cheddar cheese cracker.

"That's a very strict Barbara's standard. We never use any hydrogenated oil," said Jennifer Ramstad, marketing manager. "Consumers are pretty smart now."

Education is key to awareness, according to one nutritionist. "Trans fat is worse than saturated fat in terms of heart disease," said Lilian Cheung, editorial director of the Harvard School of Public Health's "Nutrition Source" website (www.hsph.harvard.edu/

nutritionsource). "Start reading the label. Anything hydrogenated is equivalent to trans fat." Currently, partially hydrogenated oil is in everything from Sunshine's Krispy Saltines and Nabisco's Triscuits to Kraft's Cheese Nips.

But changes might be on the horizon. Frito-Lay has already released several lines of tweaked snacks and is one of the only brands to list trans fat content. And Kraft Foods said it is on its way to reformulating its line of snack foods.

"We have a significant effort under way to reduce or eliminate trans fats in our products wherever possible," said Kraft spokesperson Kris Charles. The company expects to make changes by 2004 or 2005.

Researchers have already developed a new partially hydrogenated oil without trans fats, said Stephanie Childs, spokesperson for the Grocery Manufacturers of America, the largest consumer products lobbying group. "You're going to see more and more of these products," she said.