Feb 17, 9:23 AM (ET)
By AMY LORENTZEN
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) - The hubbub about the heart risks of trans fats has caused a huge demand for a healthier new soybean oil, prompting food companies to recruit farmers to grow new varieties of the beans.
New soybean varieties contain a lower level of acids that cause food to become stale or rancid. That means the oil doesn't require hydrogenation, the process that increases trans fat content.
The food and restaurant industries have been snapping up the new oil since the U.S. Food and Drug Administration began requiring manufacturers to list trans fat content on food labels.
"I'm personally impressed by how many products I pick up now and read the label and it has no trans fats at all, so I think the food industry has done a great job of making the transition," said Walter R. Fehr, an Iowa State University soybean researcher who helped develop the new varieties.
Typical soybeans contain about 7 percent linolenic acid. The new varieties contain 1 percent or 3 percent.
So far, the new soybeans are being grown in a handful of states, including Iowa, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota and South Dakota.
Last season, farmers planted 160,000 acres of the new beans. This spring, farmers are expected to plant 750,000 acres, said Linda Funk, spokeswoman for the Iowa Soybean Promotion Board.
"The demand definitely is there and much greater than our supply at this point," Funk said.
Even with the rising demand, it's been difficult to get farmers to choose the new varieties, said Jim Sutter, a vice president of Cargill Inc.'s grain and oilseed supply chain.
"I think there is a reluctance because of a lack of a long history of these things, a fear of the unknown a little bit," he said.
Cargill processed between 25 million and 30 million pounds of the low-linolenic acid soybeans last year, and Sutter predicts the market will continue to grow.
Among the companies buying the new soybean oil is Kellogg Co. (K), which will use it in its Town House and Club crackers early this year.
Asoyia, an Iowa-based company that makes the new oil, said the Kellogg announcement had a big impact on the market. Asoyia nearly sold out of its supplies since Kellogg announced its effort to reduce trans fat content, said Ryan Kinneberg, a sales and marketing representative.
"That's a confidence booster there," Kinneberg said.
Darwin Carroll, 47, of Columbus Junction, has been growing Asoyia's low-linolenic acid soybeans for three years. Although it takes a little extra work to ensure that the crop is kept separate from other soybeans, "the good outweighs the minor bad," he said.
"The consumer is demanding it, and it's good for us," he said.
Researchers have said when the new soybean oil is used to fry foods, it creates a crispier, tastier dish because the oil doesn't soak in as much as partially hydrogenated oils.
The oil also has a longer frying life, researchers said.
Jason Wheelock, a manager at Hickory Park Restaurant, a barbecue eatery in Ames, said the new soybean oil has been used there for more than a year. At first, he said, it was more costly, but with more competition and better distribution, the price now is comparable to other oils.
Wheelock said the restaurant decided to use the oil after being approached by ISU researchers.
"We use it because we try to stay a step ahead," Wheelock said.
http://apnews.excite.com/article/200...D8FQTOSG6.html
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