SPECIAL REPORT: Fat Stigma is Changing

14 Sep 2016 --- Since the 1980s, the low-fat approach to dieting has been the overarching ideology of a ‘healthy diet’, promoted by health authorities, worldwide governments, the food industry, and the health media. But things are changing. So, today NutritionInsight takes a look into how and why consumers and the food industry are changing their view on fat.

The obesity rate has doubled worldwide since 1980 (according to research published in the journal The Lancet), and many researchers now argue that the ideology behind the diet doesn’t demonstrate enough clear evidence that it prevents heart disease or promotes weight loss - the key drivers behind the global acceptance of low fat living. 

Fat is ‘Healthy’ Now 

After decades of demonization, shifts in fat theories have begun to surface, reflecting recent scientific knowledge and research surrounding the macronutrient. 

Examples of research vary, but in particular, the Mediterranean diet has seen a flurry of praise. Researchers from Minneapolis VA Medical Center recently studied available evidence and suggested that a Mediterranean diet with no restrictions on fat intake may reduce a person's risk for breast cancer, diabetes, and cardiovascular events compared to other diets. 

Another study recently presented at the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) Conference in Rome, suggested that a Mediterranean diet could be beneficial for patients with a history of cardiovascular disease, and help them to live longer.

Other, non-saturated fats such as omega 3 fatty acids are also believed to be healthy, with an abundance of research favoring them for heart, joint, skin and brain health. 

However, saturated fats found in dairy, meat and tropical plants, still face widespread disapproval from health officials. But could this be changing?

A History of Saturated Fats & Trans Fats

Of all the fats, saturated fats have been the most heavily demonized. Since the 1960s, many researchers held them alone responsible for the increase in rates of heart disease, obesity and diabetes. 

This led the food industry to seek alternative ‘healthier’ fats to use in food products. To achieve this, they added hydrogen to unsaturated, liquid vegetable oils to create semi-solid “partially hydrogenated oils” (PHOs), creating ‘desirable alternatives’ to saturated fats. These fats mimicked the textures and behaviors of animal fats and butter and were cheap to produce.

While the introduction of PHO’s resulted in less saturated fat, the process of partially hydrogenating oils created trans fatty acids. Studies then found that regular consumption of these man-made trans fats contributed to adverse health effects, specifically an increased risk of coronary heart disease, as demonstrated by the fats increasing LDL (“bad”) cholesterol, while also lowering HDL (“good”) cholesterol levels.

Other studies also suggested a link between trans fat and insulin resistance and a potential increase in diabetes risk. 

So, on July 11 2003, the US Food and Drug Administration required declaration of the trans fatty acid content on the nutrition label for both conventional foods and dietary supplements. Since then, a significant effort has been made across the food industry to reformulate products to either remove or substantially reduce the trans fat content in their products, resulting in an 86 per cent overall reduction. 

The Saturated Fat Resurgence 

After reducing the use of PHOs, the food industry needed to find an equivalent fat alternative that matched the high stability and workability of trans fats, as well as their storage stability for baked goods.

So the re-adoption of saturated fats began, and now tropical oils such as palm oil and coconut oil now play key roles in product reformulations. 

The pick up in use also correlated with a number of studies suggesting that compared with trans fats, saturated fat isn’t as bad as we once thought, and could even promote health benefits.

Commenting on the debate and science around saturated fat, Gerald McNeill of Loders Croklaan told NutritionInsight:“A lot of data has come out to show that saturated fat indeed does raise bad cholesterol, LDL, but at the same it raises good cholesterol, HDL, by about the same amount.”

McNeill continued, explaining, “So logically, you would think that the bad and good would more or less cancel themselves out. And in fact that’s been verified in observational studies where free-living people are followed, and their diet is measured from time to time over decades.”

“There have been 2 studies out since 2010 showing that, of 350,000 people in a study, they could not find any association between saturated fat intake and risk of heart disease. In other words, if you eat more saturated fat nothing happens to your risk of heart disease, and if you eat less, nothing happens. It’s completely neutral,” claims McNeill. 

As well as major health concerns being dispelled, the re-adoption of saturated fat sits well with the current trend towards more recognizable ingredients in foods, a trend the industry is keen to promote.

And, according to Innova Market Insights data, YOY, both palm oil and coconut oil use in 2016YTD remains more or less as high as it was in 2015, with a 1 percent rise in the snack and ready meal sectors, areas where PHO’s used to dominate.

The Healthy Side of Saturated Fats 

Saturated fats have also celebrated good growth in areas aside from product reformulation. 

Coconut oil in particular receives more positive health claims than negatives. 

From increasing satiety, to improving blood cholesterol, the oil continues to thrive as an ingredient and as a standalone product especially in the sports and health sector. 

According to Innova Market Insights data, in 2016YTD, coconut oil is 18% more common in sports and recovery products when compared with 2015, and it’s use in ‘active health’ sports nutrition products has risen from 73% in 2015 to 85% in 2016TYD.

But this trend doesn’t stop with coconut oil. Data from Innova Market Insights shows that in general, ‘saturated fat’ products in the sports nutrition ‘active health’ sector are nearly 9% more common in 2016YTD compared with 2015.

A potential catalyst behind this trend could be due to a number of unofficial, but authoritative health bodies embracing the new health claims surrounding saturated fats, disputing older advice from the 1980s, for example, authoritative blogs and health movements.

There’s also the trend towards high fat, low carbohydrate diets, something that has seen growth over the last few years, in part due to a negative focus on sugar and processed foods. The Paleo and Mediterranean diets favor ‘clean eating’ something that can include fats in abundance as long as processed, high sugar foods are omitted. 

And lastly, the anti sugar movement may have also played its part in fat becoming ‘healthy’. Consumers are increasingly aware that sugar is often added into low fat products in order to restore lost taste, and are therefore boycotting products marketed as ‘healthy.

The Dairy Comeback 

Aside from tropical plant oils, the dairy industry is the other key body in the saturated fat sector. Over the years, they’ve had to fight the anti-fat war harder than anyone else, with products such as butter, cheese and cream all tainted with the saturated fat brush.

However, it looks like things could be changing for them too. 

A new study from Tufts University recently found that the regular consumption of butter is safe, and is only slightly or neutrally associated with the development of chronic diseases, cardiovascular health problems and overall mortality. 

As consumers also want more than ever to understand what products that are going into their products, it’s also thought that the push for clean label could also benefit the re-surge in dairy.

However, despite the rise in popularity, official health authorities continue to advise against the consumption of saturated fat. 

Tracy Parker, Heart Health Dietician at the British Heart Foundation, told NutritionInsight: “Understanding the true relationship between diet and our health is difficult, but we know that replacing saturated fat with unsaturated fats seems to have a positive impact on our heart health and this is recognized by the authors of this study.”

UK Health guidelines still state that the average man should eat no more than 30g of saturated fat, and the average women, no more than 20g.

The Future of Fats

With fats in general on the rise, there are many new avenues for the food industry to get creative with products and marketing.

The fat frenzy can leave room for products such as nut butters to step in, offering alternatives to butter, especially while health bodies and the food industry continue to pinpoint the dangers of saturated fats.

However, for big food, there are environmental factors to be considered, especially when it comes palm and coconut oil. The increase in demand has resulted in an increased raw material cost, and the overall supply to meet demand has been raised as a concern, something that is starting to resonate with consumers.

As a result, alternative fat options are actively being researched and developed, but so far, no exact replacement with all the functional properties of saturated fats or PHOs is available. 

by Hannah Gardiner