Since the 2003 FDA mandate regarding labeling of trans fats, the food industry has made substantial strides in replacing partially hydrogenated oils. Still, work continues—particularly in some applications where trans fats provided easy solutions.
Brian Strouts, head of research and technical services, AIB International, Manhattan, KS, believes bakers and shortening manufacturers are still learning how trans-fat-free shortenings work as replacements in different appli-cations.
Success through specificity
While some shortenings work well across a broad range, “sometimes the specific choice of trans-fat-free shorten-ing can be very specific to an application,” says Strouts. “One trans-free fat may work very well in one chocolate-chip cookie formulation, and it may not work very well in another type of chocolate-chip cookie formulation, depending upon the level of fat that’s in there, the ratio of sugars and how it’s being processed.
It comes down to finding the specific shortening for a particular formulation. “We’ve done several different tests here for lots of different reasons and companies,” continues Strouts. In a specific buttercream-type icing formulation, researchers started working with “different trans-fat-free shortenings that, by their descriptions by their manufacturers, were suited for that type of icing application. We saw, as we plugged it into our standard formulation, very different performance all the way from color to smoothness to ability to hold water.” He describes the working formula as “standard as it can be. There’s not a lot of room to play around on a buttercream-type icing.”
Strouts suggests formulators trying to transition to a trans-free shortening try a variety of products from different suppliers to see which work best. Sometimes, a client has tried a single shortening and will want to give up. He suggests that manufacturers “search out different options, because it really does get to be that critical.”
