Gaining Thanks: Israeli Companies Have Stopped Using Trans Fats

Health organizations and consumer associations have worked extensively in recent years to remove trans fats, a health-damaging component, from products in Israel, following studies indicating a link between trans fat consumption and serious diseases.

Trans fat has the ability to preserve food for a long time and is significantly cheaper compared to animal and vegetable fats. Therefore, the FDA's directive to completely eliminate it from food is expected to face challenges from food companies, which are likely to appeal the directive.

Israeli food companies, in comparison, are not overly concerned about the American initiative.

Tnuva claims that as early as 2010, the company instructed its suppliers not to supply it with raw materials containing non-natural trans fats.

Strauss reports that it voluntarily stopped using trans fats: “Following an internal company initiative, for the past ten years our products have been manufactured without using raw materials that contain non-natural trans fats. This was an endeavor that required a great deal of technological effort."

The frozen pastry company 'Maadanot' was also unfazed by the announcement. “Maadanot began developing products without non-natural trans fats as early as 2010, then launched phyllo dough burekas, which do not contain margarine but only canola oil,” the company states. “In the past three years, the company addressed margarine suppliers with a demand for margarine that only contains natural plant-based trans fats, and since then ensures that the percentage of trans fat in its dough and pastries is less than half a percent."

A source in the food industry states that the Israeli food industry is not expected to experience upheaval. Those who should be concerned are bakery and pizzeria owners, who likely did not bother to change their raw material compositions, as supervision and standards are less stringent for them."