soy oil ohio
Consumer demand and a ruling by the Food and Drug Administration requiring the labeling of all trans fats on nutrition labels has created a demand from manufacturers and chefs to find an alternative to cooking oils with trans fats.
Based on this ruling the Ohio Soybean Council (OSC) launched an ambitious campaign called Soy Oil Ohio to promote the use of zero trans fat cooking oil processed from a new soybean variety. The campaign targets Ohio farmers in an effort to promote planting of new healthier soybeans, as well as health-conscious consumers to educate them about how cooking oil processed from these new varieties of soybeans can eliminate or significantly reduce trans fats.
One of the new varieties developed is low-linolenic soybeans. Low-linolenic soybeans produce oil that does not need to be hydrogenated, thereby reducing or eliminating trans fats. These soybeans contain less than 3 percent of linolenic acid compared to 7 percent in most other soybean varieties. Currently, oil produced from low-linolenic soybeans is used primarily in food manufacturing and restaurants.
Low-linolenic soybeans are the first step in a long term plan to introduce many new soybean varieties capable of producing healthier oil including high-oleic, Omega 3 and even amino-acid soybeans.
