CGT Inside News - 12/20/2005
Kraft Invests 100,000 Man Hours to Meet FDA Trans-Fat Labeling Deadline
December 21, 2005 - By investing more than 100,000 man hours in research and development alone, Kraft Foods Inc. successfully completes its multi-year, voluntary trans fat reduction effort in the United States and prepares to meet the January 1, 2006 U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) deadline for on-pack trans fat labeling.
While Kraft would not disclose the actual cost of the project, it reports spending millions on new production equipment to blend and store the new oils needed to ensure the combined level of saturated fat and trans fat did not increase. "Reformulating a single product can be challenging on its own," says Jean Spence, executive vice president, Global Technology & Quality, Kraft Foods Inc. "With this initiative, we were reformulating across our entire U.S. portfolio, with roughly 650 products needing new formulas or manufacturing solutions, or both."
With trans fat added to the Nutrition Facts panel, consumers will know for the first time how much saturated fat, trans fat and cholesterol are in the foods they choose. The FDA estimates that the industry will incur a one-time cost of approximately $140 million to $250 million to determine the amount of trans fat in the food products; relabel the Nutrition Facts panel to add trans fat; and reformulate products voluntarily to decrease the amount of trans fat.
While the new FDA rule does not require companies to reduce trans fat content, Kraft took added steps to reduce or remove trans fat from its products to enhance their nutritional profiles. As a result, seven Kraft categories undertook significant reformulation efforts across their product lines, including: Cereal, Cookies, Crackers, Pizza, Desserts, Meals and Oscar Mayer. Brands such as Kraft Easy Mac, DiGiorno Thin Crispy Crust Pizza, original Oreo cookies, Wheat Thins crackers and Jell-O Pudding Snacks will now be labeled as containing 0g trans fat per serving.
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December 21, 2005 - By investing more than 100,000 man hours in research and development alone, Kraft Foods Inc. successfully completes its multi-year, voluntary trans fat reduction effort in the United States and prepares to meet the January 1, 2006 U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) deadline for on-pack trans fat labeling.
While Kraft would not disclose the actual cost of the project, it reports spending millions on new production equipment to blend and store the new oils needed to ensure the combined level of saturated fat and trans fat did not increase. "Reformulating a single product can be challenging on its own," says Jean Spence, executive vice president, Global Technology & Quality, Kraft Foods Inc. "With this initiative, we were reformulating across our entire U.S. portfolio, with roughly 650 products needing new formulas or manufacturing solutions, or both."
With trans fat added to the Nutrition Facts panel, consumers will know for the first time how much saturated fat, trans fat and cholesterol are in the foods they choose. The FDA estimates that the industry will incur a one-time cost of approximately $140 million to $250 million to determine the amount of trans fat in the food products; relabel the Nutrition Facts panel to add trans fat; and reformulate products voluntarily to decrease the amount of trans fat.
While the new FDA rule does not require companies to reduce trans fat content, Kraft took added steps to reduce or remove trans fat from its products to enhance their nutritional profiles. As a result, seven Kraft categories undertook significant reformulation efforts across their product lines, including: Cereal, Cookies, Crackers, Pizza, Desserts, Meals and Oscar Mayer. Brands such as Kraft Easy Mac, DiGiorno Thin Crispy Crust Pizza, original Oreo cookies, Wheat Thins crackers and Jell-O Pudding Snacks will now be labeled as containing 0g trans fat per serving.
[PRINTER FRIENDLY VERSION]