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February 27, 2007
Aramark cuts the fat
Starting last week, all deep fried food made at the university switched from using conventional frying oils to Mazola ZT, a frying oil that contains no trans-fatty acid.
According to Sorin dining hall’s head chef Dave Gallion, the university played no part in the switch of oils. “The change was entirely an Aramark initiative,” he said.
Trans-fatty acid, commonly called trans-fat, is a type of vegetable oil that has been treated with hydrogen in order to make it more solid and give it a longer shelf life.
Mazola ZT is a specially blended product of mixed oils that goes through a unique purification process at the Mazola plant to eliminate trans-fat. Mazola ZT is also preservative-free and cholesterol-free.
The Mazola ZT brand owners are ACH Foods Inc. ACH sells wide varieties of corn-based products including Zaro Corn Syrup and Argo Corn Starch.
This shift is part of an Aramark-wide change to shift out of conventional frying oils as part of Aramark’s new more health conscious supply menu.
While the oils that fry them may be trans-fat free, the food that is fried, such as breaded chicken, still contains trans-fat, Chef Dave said.
Despite this change in the food service, few have taken notice until now. “I was really surprised,” Gallion said. “Nobody has really asked us about it.”
The cooking facilities and machinery were not affected by this change.
-Chris Matter
Posted by dwright at February 27, 2007 08:59 PM
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