Action plan for improving the fatty acid composition

The action plan for the fats and oils sector has been set up by the Product Board MVO. The parties represented by the product board are the producers of margarines, sauces, oils and deep-frying fats. Activities that are intended to improve the fatty acid composition in these products have been planned up to and including 2010 within the framework of the Task Force for the Improvement of the Fatty acid composition.

Ambitions

• an increase in the share of liquid margarine and cooking and frying products in the retail trade from 36% to a minimum of 40% in 2010
• an increase in the number of users of liquid deep-frying fats in the fast food sector from 50% in 2006 to 75% at the end of 2010
• an increase in the share of liquid deep-frying fats in the retail trade from 85% to 90% in 2010
• a reduction of the trans fat content in solid deep-frying fats for the fast food industry in steps according to the following objectives:
  • no solid deep-frying fats containing more than 30% trans fatty acids will be sold in the Netherlands to end users by wholesalers and manufacturers as from 1 January 2008
  • no solid deep-frying fats containing more than 20% trans fatty acids will be sold in the Netherlands to end users by wholesalers and manufacturers as from 1 January 2009
  • no solid deep-frying fats containing more than 15% trans fatty acids will be sold in the Netherlands to end users by wholesalers and manufacturers as from 1 January 2010
  • no solid deep-frying fats containing more than 10% trans fatty acids will be sold in the Netherlands to end users by wholesalers and manufacturers as from 1 January 2011
  • no solid deep-frying fats containing more than 5% trans fatty acids will be sold in the Netherlands to end users by wholesalers and manufacturers as from 1 January 2012

Approach

• MVO will disseminate and maintain the Code of Practice for the restriction of trans fatty acids in solid deep-frying fats. MVO will lobby the Dutch government that such agreements be laid down in European legislation
• Provide information to the consumer about products with a favourable fatty acid composition such as liquid margarine and liquid deep-frying fat. The education activities of the Education Bureau MVO (www.voorlichtingmvo.nl) will be continued for this purpose, such as providing information about liquid margarine, the lessons prepared for primary and secondary schools and the website www.voorlichtingmvo.nl
• Provide information to the professional user about products with a favourable fatty acid composition. Examples of this are the campaign Responsible Frying (www.friturenindehoreca.nl), giving presentations at symposia, writing articles in trade magazines and developing fact sheets with facts about fats for among others the foodstuffs industry and the retail trade and giving guest lessons in training courses, including those for the catering industry. The MVO will also increase awareness of the activities of the Task Force. As well as this, MVO will also issue in collaboration with the Task Force the newsletter of the Task Force for Improvement of the Fatty acid composition in which developments in policy, science and social trends will be explained and which will have a wide distribution within the various branches
• MVO lobbies for a mandatory nutrition labelling about the amount of trans fatty acids and saturated fatty acids. This would allow consumers and professional users to be better able to select products that fit in a healthy diet, and it can also further stimulate innovations.
• An important instrument to measure the efforts made is surveying. The annual surveying activities of the MVO will be continued. The market figures for the last quarter of 2007 and the first two quarters of 2008 will be available in the third quarter of 2008.