Just a few weeks after a similar move from fast food giant KFC, the recent announcement will next year result in agricultural firm Dow AgroSciences increasing its crop production to provide more than one billion pounds of its high-stability canola oil.
Taco Bell's move comes a year after food and beverage manufacturers battled to remove the fats from their products in time for new labeling regulations that required these feature on nutrition facts panels.
These massive reformulation efforts have this year been followed by changes in the food service sector. Starting with health-oriented food establishments pointing out to consumers that their products are free from the oils, the trans fat fetish began to spread to more mainstream chains. And moves by independent jurisdictions to require such labels in restaurants, or to ban the use of trans fats altogether, have also recently been seen in Chicago and New York.
Before KFC and Taco Bell, other restaurant chains to slash trans fats include Wendy's, Ruby Tuesday, Chili's and Legal Sea Food.
Taco Bell said it will be that it will convert all of its more than 4,200 single brand US restaurants to a new zero grams trans fat canola oil for frying from a partially hydrogenated soybean oil by April next year.
The new oil, which was developed by Dow AgroSciences, will be supplied by Bunge Oils.
According to Dow AgroSciences, attributes of the new oil include zero trans fat, lower saturated fat, and a high level of heart-healthy omega-9 monounsaturated fat.
"Because we are seeing an increase in demand for this 'next generation' oil, it's a natural step for us to follow with additional production," said David Dzisiak, global oils leader for Dow AgroSciences.
In contrast, KFC, which also plans to convert to no trans by April, will be switching to low linolenic soybean oil. Taco Bell said that in order to ensure the same flavor profile across menu items at multibrand restaurants, such as KFC/Taco Bell locations, these restaurants will switch their frying oil to the same zero grams trans fat frying oil that KFC is in the process of changing to.
The foodservice was first challenged on trans fats in 2003, when McDonald's was sued for reneging on its promise to reduce the amount of trans fats in its oils. That action resulted last year in an $8.5m settlement.
According to Dow AgroSciences, the foodservice industry annually uses more than 5 billion pounds of partially hydrogenated soybean oil, which is high in trans fat and higher in saturated fat as compared with the new high-stability canola oil. Dzisiak said the Taco Bell conversion demonstrates that Dow AgroSciences and its oil suppliers will have the ability to begin to replace a significant percentage of those oils.
Trans fatty acids - also known as trans fats - are formed when liquid vegetable oils are partially hydrogenated or 'hardened' for use as spreads such as margarine, cooking fats for deep-frying and shortening for baking. Foods high in trans or saturated fatty acids increase blood cholesterol levels, thereby increasing the risk of heart disease.
Trans fats first came into the public eye in 2003, when a lawsuit filed against Kraft Foods for the trans fat content of its Oreo cookies resulted in the firm reformulating its trademark product.