June 08, 2007
CKE Restaurants to fry with canola oil - CKE Restaurants announced this week that Carl's Jr. and Hardee's restaurants are converting to high stability canola oil produced from Nexera canola seed. The conversion will be complete by January 2008.
“We are very pleased to announce our conversion to zero trans fat, 100% canola cooking oil in our restaurants by January of next year,” Andrew Puzder, president and CEO of CKE Restaurants, said in a statement. “We have evaluated many zero trans fat cooking oil alternatives in an effort to offer our guests the ideal oil option from a health and nutrition standpoint while, at the same time, not adversely affecting the taste and flavour of the premium quality menu items that Carl's Jr. and Hardee's customers have come to know and love.”
The CKE group of restaurants includes 1,087 Carl's Jr. restaurants and 1,906 Hardee's franchises.
City on a diet adds canola oil to its healthier approach - The entire city of Somerville, Mass. went on a diet in 2003-04, and it worked. Part of the prescription for eating better included school cafeterias turning to canola and olive oils in meal preparation.
According to a Tufts University study, school children in the city avoided gaining about a pound of excess weight compared with eight-year-old counterparts in two nearby communities.
Researchers picked Somerville because it has a large population of minority children with little town land set aside for safe walking and playing. Teachers were taught a new health curriculum and program leaders learned yoga, dance and soccer to encourage the children to eat healthy and be active.
Canola health claim touted in magazine for people with diabetes - The summer issue of Diabetic Living, a supplement to Better Homes and Gardens, recently included news on canola oil's FDA qualified health claim. In its “What's New – Medical breakthroughs, new foods, health aid ideas, and medical” it features several paragraphs detailing the health claim canola oil received in October 2006 because of its unsaturated fat content.
New FDA health claim available for unsaturated fats – Unsaturated fat has been a favourite of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration this year. Upon application by Frito-Lay, the FDA recently approved a qualified health claim as follows: “Replacing saturated fat with similar amounts of unsaturated fats may reduce the risk of heart disease. To achieve this benefit, total daily calories should not increase.”
Frito-Lay has announced that its vegetable oils, spreads and shortenings that have a total unsaturated fat content of 80% or more of total fat, will soon bear the health claim.
The FDA notification also authorizes the claim for oil-containing foods in the following categories: crackers, salad dressings, salads, sauces and dips, and grain, vegetable and fruit-based snacks - - and notes that the claim is available for use on any food that satisfies the requirements for the claim and is not limited to those listed in the notification.
To view the entire notification by FDA, go to: http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/flfats2.html
Biodiesel crusher and refinery set for Alberta – Vegreville, AB will be the site of a 175 million litre crushing plant and biodiesel refinery. BioStreet Canada announced its plans June 1 in Vegreville.
Construction is slated to begin in late 2007 and be complete in late 2009. The plant will provide over 50 full-time jobs and create a market for 375,000 to 400,000 tonnes of canola annually.
“Alberta's rural economy is benefiting from the increased demand in biofuels, helping to diversify from one largely dependent on oil and gas,” says Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach.
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