Kraft Changes Oreo Recipe to Make Them a Healthier Snack

Kraft Foods makes Oreo cookies. Kraft is a large food company. It sells products all over the world. Recently, it announced that it is changing the way it makes Oreos and about 650 other products to make them healthier.

Trans fats cause heart disease

Oreos are two chocolate-flavored wafers held together with a small amount of white frosting in the middle.

Each cookie is small enough to fit in a person’s hand. Packages of Oreos advertise they are “America’s favorite cookie.”

In the past, Oreo cookies contained a substance called trans fats.  Doctors and scientists decided that trans fats are not healthy for people. Trans fats are in the oils used to make many food products.

Kraft used soybean oil for Oreo cookies. The new formula for Oreos uses a blend of canola oil and palm oil. Canola oil comes from several types of plants matched to create a special kind of plant.  Palm oil comes from palm trees. 

Trans fats help give products a richer taste. Products made with trans fats also do not spoil as quickly as those made with other oils do.  The old Oreos contained 2.5 grams of trans fats for every three cookies. The new Oreos do not have any trans fats.

A group of health experts recently told the federal government that people should try to consume as few trans fats as possible. The panel said people should eat two grams or less per day of trans fats.   

Doctors say trans fats increase the levels of bad cholesterol in a person’s body. They also reduce levels of good cholesterol.  Doctors also say trans fats make arteries more rigid, which can lead to strokes and heart disease.  

New Oreos contain saturated fats

However, the new Oreos still contain another kind of fat. The new Oreos still contain saturated fats. Doctors say saturated fats also lead to heart disease and obesity.

Kraft said it tried 250 recipes for the new Oreos. The company said its employees spent 30,000 hours working on the new recipe. Kraft also said it tried 120 ways to manufacture the new recipe.

No one required Kraft to change the recipe.  The company decided to make the change partly because of a new government policy.

In the past, food companies did not have to list trans fats on package labels. However, in July of 2003, the federal Food and Drug Administration decided that trans fats should be listed. The requirement to list the content of trans fats went into effect on January 1, 2006.

Laurie Guzzinati is a senior manager for Kraft Foods. Guzzinati said getting the new Oreos to taste as good as the old recipe was one of the toughest challenges the company faced in cutting trans fats in its products.

“Oreo, to many people, is such an icon,” Guzzinati said.  She said Oreos are an important part of what the company makes.

“It was important that we come out with an Oreo that would meet consumers’ expectations.”