All partially hydrogenated oils will be removed from Unilever's four brands of soft-spread margarine by the second quarter of 2010, says the company, which sells the bulk of soft margarine spread in the United States.
Replacing partially hydrogenated oils with a mixture of palm oil and plant oil means that the spreads will have only 0.05 grams per serving of trans fat, the same amount that occurs naturally in vegetable oils, USA Today reported.
Unilever makes half the soft spreads sold in the United States and could claim the products had "zero grams" of trans fat in the products. That's because the Food and Drug Administration allows foods with fewwer than 0.5 grams of trans fat per serving to be labeled "0 grams of trans fat."
However, consumer pressure convinced Unilever to further reduce levels of trans fat in its soft spread margarines, USA Today reported.