Nestlé products do not contain trans fatty acids (TFA) from partially hydrogenated oils.
For clarity, there are two types of TFA:
- Natural TFA occur naturally in ruminant meat and milk (e.g., cows). It is not included in the scope of regulation by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
- Industrially produced TFA or iTFA come from either partially hydrogenated oils or fully hydrogenated oils. They are formed when fats and oils are processed during hydrogenation and deodorization, when fats and oils are produced to deliver certain food properties.
Partially hydrogenated oils contain high levels of iTFA, thus the FDA bans its use.
The FDA permits the use of fully hydrogenated oils and other processed oils that meet its criteria for the levels of iTFA in processed fats, oils, and food products. At Nestlé, we do not use partially hydrogenated oils in any of our products. We initiated the removal of partially hydrogenated oils in 2014, way before the FDA issued the regulation banning its use. We prescribe content limits for our raw materials that are stricter than those of the Department of Health through the FDA. Our content limits were established ahead of the World Health Organization’s TFA guidelines published in 2018.
We also have a policy stricter than government regulation on declaring the amount of TFA in Nestlé products, particularly those with milk and dairy ingredients that contain natural TFA.
- Specifically, Nestlé All Purpose Cream is made with milk ingredients and milk fat that contain natural TFA which are declared on its label.
- As for TFA levels in coffee mixes, these are from fully hydrogenated oils, and not partially hydrogenated oils.
All Nestlé products in the Philippines have been approved by the FDA, with corresponding Certificates of Product Registration. Our products comply with regulatory limits on TFA and the ban on using partially hydrogenated oils.