The prairie canola industry got some finger-lickin’ good news this week.
The fast food chain KFC, formerly known as Kentucky Fried Chicken, is switching to canola oil.
The company announced Oct. 30 that by early 2007 virtually the entire KFC menu at all 786 of its restaurants across Canada will contain zero trans fat.
“After intensive research, development and testing, we have a Canadian-made trans fat-free cooking oil that provides all the same delicious taste as our original recipes,” said spokesperson Jeff O’Neill.
For the Canadian canola industry, the news was indeed delicious.
Read Also
China’s grain imports have slumped big-time
China purchased just over 20 million tonnes of wheat, corn, barley and sorghum last year, that is well below the 60 million tonnes purchased in 2021-22.
Not only will the restaurant chain buy a lot of canola oil, but it sends the public a strong positive message about the product.
“Symbolically this is very important,” said Dave Hickling, vice-president of utilization for the Canola Council of Canada.
“It’s part of the whole bandwagon of people moving toward replacing trans fats and we’ve always said that for the Canadian canola industry, anything that moves away from trans fats is a good thing.”
Anything that positions canola oil in the public eye as a healthful alternative to other oils and fats is bound to benefit the industry, he said.
Hickling said he hadn’t had a chance to calculate how much oil the company will buy but said it will “obviously be a significant amount.”
Officials at KFC Canada could not be reached for more detail by deadline.
Also this week, hearings began in New York City on a proposal to ban trans fat from all restaurants in the city, a move that could also benefit the canola industry.
Hickling said the trend line for canola consumption is definitely pointing upward.
Consumption in the United States increased by 100,000 tonnes, or about 15 percent, in the past year. The industry is forecasting consumption in North America will increase from its current level of around 1.25 million tonnes to two million tonnes by 2015, with most of that growth coming south of the border.
KFC said that in its 5,500 outlets in the U.S. it will use low linolenic soybean oil.
