- What are common sources of industrially produced trans fats in baking?
- How do I choose an alternative product that meets the 2% and 5% restrictions for baking?
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Troubleshooting for baking with 2% and 5% trans fat restrictions.
What are common sources of industrially produced trans fats in baking?
- Vegetable shortening
- Baking margarine
- Liquid cake shortening
- All-purpose shortenings
- Roll-in shortenings
- Doughnut fry shortening
- Cake, cookie and muffin mixes
- Icings and whipped toppings
- Frozen dough and pie crusts
- Canned fillings and fudge base
- Chocolate chips, sprinkles and other candy add-ins
- Compound coatings and wafers
How do I choose an alternative product that meets the 2% and 5% restrictions for baking?
There is no simple answer. Choosing an alternative product in baking depends on the ingredients you are using and the type of product you are baking.
Many baking ingredients are available that meet the 2% and 5% trans fat restrictions. These alternatives to margarine and shortenings are composed of the following:
- Healthier vegetable oils such as canola, soy, cottonseed, and palm
- Non-hydrogenated hard baking margarines or shortenings (View Product List)
- All-purpose hard margarine (View Product List)
- Laminate margarines (View Product List)
- All-purpose shortenings (View Product List)
- Cake and icing shortenings (View Product List)
- Doughnut fry shortenings (View Product List)
- Pastry shortening (View Product List)
- Butter and other animal fat (View Product List)
To find the heart-healthiest solutions, test the alternatives that are lower in saturated fat first, and use the one that works best in your recipes.
You may need to change your recipe or baking process to make an alternative product work for you. Compare the characteristics of the original product to the alternative product to find out how best to make the substitution.
The characteristics that are most important in the final baked product also need to be considered. Some considerations include flakiness, tenderness, crispness, browning, taste, layering, laminating, storage stability, odour, mouth feel, and melting point.
If you need telephone information, call 8-1-1 and ask to speak to a HealthLink BC dietitian.
Source: The content on this page was adapted with permission from the New York City Trans Fat Help Center.