Campbell to launch goldfish minus trans-fatty acids

Last Updated: 2004-02-16 14:33:33 -0400 (Reuters Health)

By Deborah Cohen

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Pepperidge Farm Goldfish, the cheesy fish-shaped crackers familiar to most Americans, are about to undergo a major makeover, losing their artery-clogging trans-fatty acids.

Pepperidge Farm parent Campbell Soup Co. is set to announce the change at a food industry conference on Tuesday, marking the first such modification from a big branded cracker line. It comes amid heightened consumer awareness about health and rising obesity rates.

Trans-fatty acids (TFAs) are formed when vegetable oils are hydrogenated, hardening them to make them more shelf-stable. Manufacturers have historically used them in everything from baked goods to microwaved popcorn.

But as with saturated fats, medical experts have linked TFAs to heart disease. By 2006, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration will require all food makers to label the use of TFAs on packaging.

"Frankly, this is something that came more from the consumer than it did from the FDA," Jay Gould, Pepperidge Farm's newly appointed president, said in an interview. Campbell has been working on the changes for two years, he said, prompted by inquiries from consumers.

The difficulty in modifying Goldfish crackers, Gould said, was to develop a formula that would retain the crispness that TFAs had enabled. Instead of hydrogenated oils, the new Goldfish will use unhydrogenated ones, mainly sunflower and canola.

WELLNESS PUSH

In March, the first TFA-free Goldfish to hit grocery shelves will be a new line called Goldfish Crisps. Unlike traditional puffy Goldfish, Crisps will be flat and will come in three varieties: cheddar jack, four cheese and cheesy sour cream and onion.

The entire Goldfish line, with some $300 million in North America sales yearly, will make the change by September, with new packaging that indicates the products are TFA-free.

Other major food makers, including Kraft Foods Inc. and Pepsico Co. Inc.'s snack unit Frito-Lay, have also pledged to reformulate the nutritional content of their foods. Earlier this month, meat and poultry company Tyson Foods Inc. said it was removing TFAs from some of its chicken products.

Gould said Goldfish retail prices would remain unchanged at $1.99 for a 7.2-ounce bag. Crisps, to be packaged in 10-ounce boxes, will sell for $2.99.

In the next year, Campbell also plans to remove trans fats from all of its Pepperidge Farm breads. Some 20 percent of its breads are now made without TFAs, Gould said.

The company "has a major push on a wellness effort," said Gould, who as former head of marketing for Coca-Cola Co.'s Minute Maid division was instrumental in reformulating orange juice to add calcium.

He estimated the Goldfish revamp would cost Campbell more than $10 million, modestly pressuring operating margins in the near term. The new Crisps line will be supported by an additional $10 million in advertising, including TV spots created by WPP Group Plc unit Young & Rubicam.


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