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Advice on eating and health once was as simple as “An apple a day keeps the doctor away.” But now consumers are deluged with sometimes-conflicting information about foods and their impact on health. In the midst of all the confusion, one thing is certain: since 1918, heart disease has been the leading cause of death in the United States. The Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) states 710,760 individuals died from heart disease in the United States in 2000. Current data shows that more than 60 million Americans have one or more types of cardiovascular disease, and more than 98 million Americans, roughly 52% of all adults, have high cholesterol. Formulators are increasingly faced with the daunting challenge of developing healthful, good-tasting foods that also make a profit. Fortunately, a wide variety of heart-healthy ingredients can aid them in this task. FDA has issued a heart-health claim for a sizable list of ingredients. In December 2002, FDA loosened its health-claim requirements so that claims do not need to meet the standard for significant scientific agreement. Rather, the scientific evidence in support of the claim must outweigh the scientific evidence against the claim. In lieu of this new ruling, quite a few more claims might appear on the horizon. Research reveals heart-health benefits for many other ingredients that don’t currently carry FDA health claims. Any discussion of food ingredients and heart health should probably get started with fat. The Chicago-based American Dietetic Association’s primer on fats and oils notes the following guidelines (which apply to the total diet, not to individual food items) for consumers: While experts have long considered diets high in total fat and saturated fat as risk factors for heart disease, newer research reveals that the effect of trans fatty acids on the ratio of LDL (“bad”) cholesterol to HDL (“good”) cholesterol is double that of saturated fatty acids. Epidemiologic studies have also linked trans fatty acids to increased risk of coronary heart disease. FDA announced proposed labeling of trans fatty acids in November 1999, and the industry is still awaiting a final ruling. In anticipation of a final FDA rule, many food companies have already begun to replace some trans fats with alternate fats. Preliminary information from FDA indicates that products with less than 0.5 grams of trans fat can bear the claim “No trans fat.” Trans-fat levels will also affect claims for saturated fat and cholesterol, as well as the requirements for many heart-health claims. Emerging research indicates that not all trans fatty acids have the same biological effects. Trans fatty acids from hydrogenated vegetable oil, which consist of trans double bonds in the 8 – 13 carbon positions, have been associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease. “Trans fat from ruminant fat, which consist mostly of a trans fatty acid with the double bond in the 11 carbon position, have not been associated with an increased risk of coronary heart disease,” notes Peter Huth, director nutrition research and scientific affairs, Dairy Management, Inc.™, Rosemont, IL. “This trans fatty acid, trans vaccenic acid, is a precursor of cis-9, trans-11 conjugated linoleic acid, a trans fatty acid found in milkfat which has been shown to inhibit the early stages of atherosclerosis in animal models.” A variety of alternative oils are currently available, including olive oil, rice-bran oil, amaranth oil and specialty sunflower oils. The USDA Agricultural Research Service in Fargo, ND, notes that oat oil is rich in phospholipids and glycolipids, and manufacturers could add the oil to bread to improve its health attributes and texture. ADM Kao LLC, Decatur, IL (a joint venture between Archer Daniels Midland Company [ADM], Decatur, IL, and Kao Corporation, Tokyo) manufactures Enova™ oil, a healthful oil containing diacylglycerol (DAG). This vegetable sterol prevents the body from completely absorbing cholesterol after a meal, resulting in lower blood cholesterol, especially LDL cholesterol.
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