was intentionally incorrect, but I had my suspicions.
A few weeks later, the same fellow met with me and the other members of the lipids group at the University of Maryland, this time accompanied by an ISEO adviser who also represented Kraft Foods, plus representatives from Central Soya and Lever Brothers (manufacturers of margarine and shortening). Clutching a two-inch stack of newspaper articles reporting on my article (including one in the National Enquirer ), he shook them at me indignantly.
When I repeated this earlier admission that the margarine lobby had given the Department of Agriculture incorrect food data, his face flushed red with anger.
He also warned our lipids group that we would never get any more funding if we continued our current research: a survey of trans fats levels in supermarket foods. Incredibly, we were alone in attempting to gather this data since government databases at the time contained no reference to trans fats.
We continued nevertheless, and eventually published a paper on our findings, but the industry was true to its word. The lipids group at the University of Maryland never got another penny for trans fat research, and as the professors retired, the group’s effort was gradually abandoned, except for some ongoing analysis for the USDA.
During his initial visit, the rather indiscreet National Association of Margarine Manufacturers representative also revealed that he had dropped in on the FASEB office in an attempt to pressure them to publish letters to refute my paper without giving me the chance to respond, as was customary. But the editors resisted the pressure and allowed me to reply to a series of letters criticizing my paper.
My reply stressed the correlation between vegetable fat consumption, especially trans fat consumption, and serious disease, including heart disease. I noted that the data warranted more thorough investigation, but no one was doing it.
----
The second question the researchers wanted to answer was: how much trans fat did the typical American consume?
At that time there was no data regarding the amount of trans fats in common foods. What’s more, the data in U.S. government databases on any type of fat content in foods was often incorrect, Mary found.
To remedy this situation, Joseph Sampagna and Mark Keeney, lipid biochemists at the University of Maryland, applied to the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, the USDA, the National Dairy Council, and the National Livestock and Meat Board for funds to look into the trans fat content of common American foods. Only the National Livestock and Meat Board came through with a small grant for equipment; the others turned them down. One USDA official privately revealed that they would never get money as long as they pursued the trans fat work.
Nevertheless, they did pursue it. Sampagna, Keeney, and a few graduate students, including Mary, funded jointly by an existing USDA stipend for graduate students and by the university, spent thousands of hours in the laboratory analyzing the trans fat content of hundreds of commercially available foods. Mary herself, at times with a small stipend, at times without pay, helped direct the tedious process of analysis.
In December 1982, Food Processing carried a brief preview of the University of Maryland research. Five months later, the journal printed a blistering letter from Edward Hunter on behalf of the ISEO. Hunter was concerned that the Maryland group would exaggerate the amount of trans fat found in common foods. He cited ISEO data indicating that most margarines and shortenings contained no more than 35 percent and 25 percent trans, respectively, and usually considerably less.
Mary and her colleagues found that many margarines indeed contained about 31 percent trans fat (later surveys by others revealed that Parkay margarine contained up to 45 percent trans fat), but many shortenings found ubiquitously in cookies, chips, and baked goods
A few weeks later, the same fellow met with me and the other members of the lipids group at the University of Maryland, this time accompanied by an ISEO adviser who also represented Kraft Foods, plus representatives from Central Soya and Lever Brothers (manufacturers of margarine and shortening). Clutching a two-inch stack of newspaper articles reporting on my article (including one in the National Enquirer ), he shook them at me indignantly.
When I repeated this earlier admission that the margarine lobby had given the Department of Agriculture incorrect food data, his face flushed red with anger.
He also warned our lipids group that we would never get any more funding if we continued our current research: a survey of trans fats levels in supermarket foods. Incredibly, we were alone in attempting to gather this data since government databases at the time contained no reference to trans fats.
We continued nevertheless, and eventually published a paper on our findings, but the industry was true to its word. The lipids group at the University of Maryland never got another penny for trans fat research, and as the professors retired, the group’s effort was gradually abandoned, except for some ongoing analysis for the USDA.
During his initial visit, the rather indiscreet National Association of Margarine Manufacturers representative also revealed that he had dropped in on the FASEB office in an attempt to pressure them to publish letters to refute my paper without giving me the chance to respond, as was customary. But the editors resisted the pressure and allowed me to reply to a series of letters criticizing my paper.
My reply stressed the correlation between vegetable fat consumption, especially trans fat consumption, and serious disease, including heart disease. I noted that the data warranted more thorough investigation, but no one was doing it.
----
The second question the researchers wanted to answer was: how much trans fat did the typical American consume?
At that time there was no data regarding the amount of trans fats in common foods. What’s more, the data in U.S. government databases on any type of fat content in foods was often incorrect, Mary found.
To remedy this situation, Joseph Sampagna and Mark Keeney, lipid biochemists at the University of Maryland, applied to the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, the USDA, the National Dairy Council, and the National Livestock and Meat Board for funds to look into the trans fat content of common American foods. Only the National Livestock and Meat Board came through with a small grant for equipment; the others turned them down. One USDA official privately revealed that they would never get money as long as they pursued the trans fat work.
Nevertheless, they did pursue it. Sampagna, Keeney, and a few graduate students, including Mary, funded jointly by an existing USDA stipend for graduate students and by the university, spent thousands of hours in the laboratory analyzing the trans fat content of hundreds of commercially available foods. Mary herself, at times with a small stipend, at times without pay, helped direct the tedious process of analysis.
In December 1982, Food Processing carried a brief preview of the University of Maryland research. Five months later, the journal printed a blistering letter from Edward Hunter on behalf of the ISEO. Hunter was concerned that the Maryland group would exaggerate the amount of trans fat found in common foods. He cited ISEO data indicating that most margarines and shortenings contained no more than 35 percent and 25 percent trans, respectively, and usually considerably less.
Mary and her colleagues found that many margarines indeed contained about 31 percent trans fat (later surveys by others revealed that Parkay margarine contained up to 45 percent trans fat), but many shortenings found ubiquitously in cookies, chips, and baked goods
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