Trans Fat Friendly Crisco Is Announced

[K8memphis]

Crisco cuts trans fat out

By Joe Milicia, Associated Press

Article Last Updated: 01/28/2007 06:06:56 AM PST

CLEVELAND — Crisco is getting a new formula after 95 years inAmerica's pantries that nearly eliminates artery-clogging trans fats.

J.M. Smucker Co., the largest U.S. producer of jams and jellies, has reformulated its line of Crisco shortening products to contain zero grams trans fat per serving.

"The performance is the same for those tried and true family recipes that people have come to rely on Crisco for," Smucker spokeswoman Maribeth Badertscher said on Wednesday.

Doctors say trans fats — listed on food labels as partially hydrogenated vegetable oil — can raise bad cholesterol and lower healthy cholesterol, increasing the risk of heart disease.

Link then do a search for Crisco. I don't know how long the link will last so I quoted some of it above.

[ludja]

I've been curious about what the substitutes will be for tranfats assuming that most users and certainly Crisco will not be reverting to butter, lard or liquid vegetable oils. Another likely requirement for a new substitute would be that it can be sold at a price similar to that of trans fat Crisco..

The article also mentions that the FDA allows listing of zero grams trans fat if the the amount is less than 0.5 grams per serving. The Crisco rep said that their new formula is well below the guidelines. (Interestingly though, I'm not sure how one would define a "serving" of Crisco. It's not something I would eat by the spoonful!

The article gives some information related on how the product will be changed. click

...

Introduced in 1911, Crisco was the first shortening product made entirely of vegetable oil and made its reputation on having lower saturated fat levels than butter, coconut oil, palm oil or lard, she said.  The company introduced a zero grams trans fat formula in 2004 sold in a green can. That formula, which used sunflower oil and was more expensive, has been discontinued.  The new formula of Crisco uses less partially hydrogenated cottonseed and soybean oils and more fully hydrogenated cottonseed oil — which contains no trans fat.  Hydrogenated oils are what gives shortening its semisolid consistency and high performance cooking attributes, according to the company.

The company placed an emphasis on reducing the trans fat content without increasing saturated fats, Badertscher said.

(Bolding added by me.) Can anyone comment on differences besides cost, if any, between sunflower, cottonseed and soybean oils?

[etalanian]

Yes, but will it have the melt-in-your-mouth sensation and wonderful flavor of butter???

Just can't imagine using it. I know, I know...there are many Crisco supporters out there; I just can't help getting in a little raz.

Eileen

[K8memphis]

I posted this mostly in response to the debates about the different camps built about how to handle the reduction of trans fat used in our diets. Some people think it should be legislated, some think it should be social pressure some think it should be an individual choice.

Yes, but will it have the melt-in-your-mouth sensation and wonderful flavor of butter??? 

Just can't imagine using it. I know, I know...there are many Crisco supporters out there; I just can't help getting in a little raz.

Eileen

←

I'm surprised that anyone considers shortening as a substitute for butter, even facetiously.

Do you add butter to dry fondant? It's great for some applications.

I feel sorry for people who make fun of an ingredient.

Edited February 2, 2007 by K8memphis (log)

[K8memphis]

Jonathan, aka Chef-boy, while visiting home last week brought his proud Mom & Dad gracious and kindly autographed copies of Patrick O'Connell's amazing cookbooks and we have been delighting in the wonderful gift.

Patrick O'Connell,* the Pope of American Cuisine, one of the original inductees into the Who's Who of Food and Beverage in America, received the first perfect score in the history of Zagat's rating system; His was the first establishment in the Mobile Travel Guide's history to receive two 5-star awards, one for the restaurant one for the accomodations;

From his book, "...The Inn at Little Washington became a culinary landmark, gaining Mobil's five-star ratings year after year and winning Zagat's coveted top restaurant award in 2003. O'Connell, now a James Beard Award winner...

...Selecting The Inn at Little Washington as one of the top ten restaurants in the world, Patricia Wells hails O'Connell as "a rare chef with a sense of near-perfect taste, like a musician with perfect pitch..."

*Uses 1/3 cup butter plus either 1/3 cup oil or >>> 1/3 cup SHORTENING<<< in his pie dough in BOTH of his books.