Dive Brief:
- Dupont and Monsanto could be two of the winners under the new FDA ban on the use of trans fat. Both companies own patents on GMO soybeans that produce a longer lasting oil that's free of trans fat.
- Both Dupont's Pioneer Plenish and Monsanto’s Vistive Gold soybeans are engineered to silence a gene that creates linoleic acid. That can mean longer shelf life, mitigating the need for the partial hydrogenation process that creates trans fat.
- The U.S. Department of Agriculture approved the seeds a few years ago, and crops are already being tested on limited acreage.
Dive Insight:
As the article by the Times makes clear, the GMO seeds have a long road in front of them. The most obvious challenge will be finding baking-friendly blends made with other fats. But a bigger, long-term challenge involves the use of GMO crops. While everyone can agree that trans fat is bad, not everyone can agree that science provides the answer. That's a constant battle in the food industry, and one where the stakes are extraordinarily high. The key, as we've said before, is to find a way to "bridge the chasm between those who wish to feed healthier food to Americans and those who wish simply to feed the starving."