Excerpts from Vol. 139, No. 6; Mar. 2, 2007

Healthier alternatives used by Dining Services

By Ahmed Kodouda
Writer

Bucknell Dining Services has removed trans-fatty acids, more commonly known as trans fats, from the cooking oil used in all its facilities since August 2005, beating the current national trend by over a year. Dining Services has been using canola oil, a non-trans fat oil, as the primary cooking oil instead.

“Trans fats are basically chemically-produced fats and currently are at the top of the list of ‘bad fats,” Dining Services employee Brian Ritchie said.

According to Ritchie, studies have shown that trans fats increase bad cholesterol while reducing good cholesterol. These effects are the reason for the concern and the media attention the issue is receiving.

“We have switched to using non-trans fat fryer oil. We currently use 100 percent natural canola oil, which has not been chemically modified and is low in saturated fat,” Ritchie said. “Food fried in saturated fats to me tastes heavier, just the cost is higher because it doesn’t last as long.” (read full article)