Trans fatty acids in Canadian margarines: Recent trends

The fatty acid composition and the trans fatty acid content of the top-sell ing 109 Canadian margarines were determined by a combined capillary gas-liq uid chromatography/infrared spectroscopy method. The 109 brands accounted f or 68% of the margarine brands sold in Canada and represented 74% of the ma rket share. The mean level of total trans content in tub margarines (n = 79 ) was 18.8% (g/100 g fatty acids) and ranged from 0.9 to 46.4%. The most fr equent occurrence of trans in tub margarines was in the 15-20% range; 48 of the 79 tub brands were in this range but seven brands contained more than 40% trans. The trans content of hard margarines (n = 30) ranged from 16.3 t o 43.7% and the mean value was 34.3%. In 20 of the 109 brands, the levels o f trans, trans isomers of linoleic acid exceeded the maximum level of 1% re commended for Canadian margarines. The levels of cis,trans/trans,cis isomer s of linoleic acid were also high; 78 brands contained more than 1% and in 16 brands, the levels were in the 6-7% range. Linoleic acid content in the 109 brands ranged from 1.0 to 45.2% and averaged 18.3%. In 33 samples, lino leic acid was below the level of 5% recommended by an ad hoc committee of H ealth Canada. Moreover, in these; the total trans-content exceeded 30%, and trans polyunsaturated fatty acid level was greater than 5%. There were eig ht margarines prepared from nonhydrogenated fat and their total trans conte nt was below 2.5%. From the trans content and market share of each of the m argarine brands, the average intake of trans fatty acids from margarine was estimated as 0.96 g/person/d. The intake of trans fatty acids in Canada fr om various sources was previously estimated by us as 8.4 g/person/d. Thus i t is suggested that only 11% of the dietary trans fatty acids are supplied by margarines and the majority of trans fatty acids in the Canadian diet is derived from hidden fats in fast foods and bakery products.