Soft drinks giant PepsiCo Australia has reduced the saturated fat content on many of its iconic snack brands by as much 86 per cent by switching from vegetable oil to canola oil in the manufacturing process.
Doritos, Tostitos Cantina Style tortilla chips, Twisties, Burger Rings and Cheetos have all switched to canola oil, after Smith’s Chips made the change last year.
The move is part of PepsiCo Australia’s efforts to reduce added sugars, saturated fat and sodium in its products.
“The switch to cooking in Australian canola oil for our major snack brands means more than 90% of our local snack portfolio meets our global PepsiCo 2025 goal to reduce saturated fat in our products to no more than 1.1 grams per 100 calories,” PepsiCo ANZ CEO, Danny Celoni said.
He said the company is making changes to its portfolio to meet consumer needs for healthier snacks by reformulating products without compromising on taste.
“The team has been working to reduce the added sugars, saturated fat and sodium in our food and beverages. We seek to provide consumers with more product offerings, and clear ingredient labelling information. We remain committed to meet the highest standards for food quality and safety,” Celoni said.
Celoni said PepsiCo will source 14,000 tonnes of canola oil from farmers in New South Wales and Victoria.
“We’re committed to supporting local agriculture. We’re proud that 80 per cent of the produce we use, including potatoes that go into our iconic Smith’s chips, are grown right here in Australia. PepsiCo ANZ spends more than $120 million annually on Australian produce and we want to ensure we’re able to continue to grow local, manufacture local and employ local people into the future,” added Celoni.
PepsiCo Australia is also rolling out the Health Star Rating on its products, with 67 per cent of its snack products to display the rating by the end of 2019.
The reformulated PepsiCo snacks products are available now in major retailers.
