Cargill Meets WHO Fat Criteria Worldwide

Cargill fulfilled its 2021 commitment by removing industrially produced trans fatty acids (iTFA) from its entire edible oil portfolio globally as of 2024, including in countries without legal requirements. Cargill brought its complete portfolio of edible solid and liquid oils into compliance with the World Health Organization's (WHO) recommended maximum tolerance level for industrially produced trans fatty acids (iTFA) in solid and liquid fats, effective 1 January 2024. First Global Edible Oil Supplier to Meet WHO Fat Standards Through this action, Cargill became the first global supplier to apply the WHO's recommended standard—a maximum of two grams of industrially produced trans fatty acids (iTFA) per 100 grams of solid/liquid fat—across its entire edible oil portfolio worldwide, including in countries currently without legal requirements. Cargill announced its commitment to remove iTFA from solid and liquid oil portfolios in December 2021. The company's iTFA journey spans more than a quarter century, including early innovation, millions of dollars in capital expenditures and resources, and thousands of hours of research and development. Throughout the process, Cargill helped more than 400 customers create nutritious and delicious products contributing to happier, healthier lives, and removed more than 680 tonnes of products containing iTFA from global food supply chains. René Lammers, Chief Science Officer at PepsiCo, commented on the matter. Lammers said: "We are pleased to see Cargill's continued commitment to reducing industrially produced trans fats in all of its oils and its recent achievement of WHO recommended standards targets," and added: "This move aligns with PepsiCo's successful reduction of iTFA in our foods to meet the same standard, and we encourage our industry partners to join us in this important initiative to develop our food and beverage portfolio in a way that is better for the planet and people." In just the past two years alone, Cargill invested an additional USD 8.5 million in upgrading facilities to reduce the amount of trans fat produced during oil processing, and worked in close collaboration with more than 100 customers across approximately 25 countries, reformulating new product solutions to meet their needs. WHO Called for Global Elimination of iTFA iTFA is mostly produced through partial hydrogenation of vegetable oils (PHOs), but can also be generated as a result of high-temperature processing during edible oil refining. In 2018, the WHO noted that trans fat intake exceeding 1 percent of total energy intake was associated with coronary heart disease events and deaths, and called for global elimination of iTFA by 2023. "We Feed the World Safely, Responsibly and Sustainably" Natasha Orlova, Vice President of Edible Oils and General Manager for North America at Cargill, said: "We are extremely proud to have fulfilled our commitment and accomplished our goal—we feed the world safely, responsibly and sustainably," and continued: "Taking this industry leadership step even in countries without current iTFA legislation helps us provide Cargill's innovation and experience to smaller producers, while ensuring consistency in supply chains for larger food manufacturers." To ensure compliance, Cargill integrated iTFA into its broader food safety and quality assurance programme. This systems-based approach includes multiple layers of monitoring, compliance and auditing. In its latest progress report, the WHO noted that policies restricting iTFA use are implemented in only 60 countries globally and cover approximately 43 percent of the world's population. According to this report, most consumers worldwide remain at risk from continued iTFA consumption. The report called on major liquid and solid fat suppliers to "follow Cargill's pioneering efforts to remove industrially produced TFA from products sold to food manufacturers globally." "We Call on Other Industry Players to Follow Our Leadership and Remove iTFA from All Their Products" Orlova said: "We are the first and only global edible oil supplier that consistently meets and fully commits to WHO standards across our entire global portfolio in every respect, and while we take justified pride in this milestone, the WHO report emphasizes that much work remains. While attending to saturated fat levels, we not only met iTFA recommendations, but also proved that it can be done without noticeably changing the taste or texture of consumers' favourite foods. We call on other industry players to follow our leadership and remove iTFA from all their products." Cargill also took action over the past two years to help advance industry-wide reformulation, particularly in countries without iTFA regulations during the company's commitment period. Among its actions in Pakistan, Cargill partnered with the Sustainable Development Policy Institute for a public awareness campaign. In Malaysia and Mexico, the company shared experience and expertise in iTFA reformulation, while the WHO engaged with industry, academic and government stakeholders to create awareness about best practices.