Following the Public Health Ministry’s announcement of a yet-to-be-implemented ban on trans fats in Thailand, a number of fast food giants and convenience store chains are already stepping up to publicly declare their compliance and support for the law.
Among the first was McDonald’s Thailand, which today proudly announced they haven’t used trans fat to fry their food since February. In a statement sent to Thai media, the US fast food chain said they use palm oil from a local supplier in all their cooking at this point.
That doesn’t, however, take into the McCafe counter inside many McDonald’s locations. The fast food giant said that, given the number of ingredients imported from other countries for those products, they’ll need to conduct “lab tests” to determine if any trans fat is being used. Hmm.
KFC Thailand, meanwhile, also guarantees that all their food is 100 percent trans fat free — a policy they say has been enforced by their US headquarters since 2015. KFC also uses palm oil in their cooking, for those curious.
So who else is trans fat-free? Pepsi-Cola (Thai) Trading Co. Ltd. said that all snacks under their jurisdiction, including Lays potato chips and Cheetos, are prepared without hydrogenated oils of any kind (basically a fancy way of saying “no trans fat.”)
Convenience stores chains like Tesco Lotus and Big C have also released their no trans fat policies in regards to their bakery sections.
While many of these companies have reportedly switched to palm oil, it’s not all peaches and cream. The palm oil industry has major links to environmental issues like deforestation and climate change — but hey, you can’t win them all right?
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