National Nutrition Month: What 'Nutrition from the Ground Up' Means at Frito-Lay

Today on Snack Chat, Danielle Dalheim, a Registered Dietitian and Nutrition Scientist with Frito-Lay, is back to share her thoughts on what National Nutrition Month, celebrated in March each year, means to her and to Frito-Lay.  Danielle joined Frito-Lay in 2007, after graduating from the University of Oklahoma, and plays an important role in the work we’re doing to enhance our products by using healthier ingredients and bringing better-for-you snacks to consumers.

Every year the American Dietetic Association (ADA) celebrates March as National Nutrition Month, during which Registered Dietitians (RD), like me, increase our focus on the importance of educating consumers about making better food choices and encouraging them to live healthy and active lifestyles. This year as part of National Nutrition Month, the ADA asked RDs what the phrase “nutrition from the ground up” means to us. This phrase resonates with me since it aligns well with Frito-Lay’s commitment to health and wellness and our history of developing products based on sound nutrition science and providing our consumers with the nutrition information they need to make healthier lifestyle choices.  So today, I’d like to share a couple specific ways in which Frito-Lay is accomplishing “nutrition from the ground up.” 

Adopting a ‘Better Oils’ Strategy:

Frito-Lay has long followed scientific recommendations to determine which oils we use to make our products. This approach often resulted in us making hallmark changes in our cooking processes to improve the health profile of our products -- well ahead of other food companies.

• In 2003, Frito-Lay was the first major food company to remove trans fats from its entire snack chip portfolio, converting the oil used to make Cheetos cheese flavored snacks and Doritos and Tostitos tortilla chips to corn oil, a healthier oil.  Some of our snacks, like Lay’s potato chips and Fritos corn chips, never had trans fat in the first place.  Today, all of our chips contain 0 grams of trans fat per serving. 

• In 2006, we reduced the saturated fat in our potato chips by switching to sunflower oil. The healthier oils, like sunflower and corn oils, now used to make our chips contain 0 grams of trans fat and are higher in the “good” poly- and monounsaturated fats that have been proven to reduce LDL cholesterol and maintain or increase HDL cholesterol levels, which has been associated with a reduction in the risk of heart disease. 

Clearly Communicating Nutrition Information:

Frito-Lay recognizes the importance of clearly and transparently communicating with consumers about our products, which led to the introduction of key, on-package information to ensure that consumers are informed about our products. 

• Frito-Lay began full nutrition labeling in 1989, even before the 1992 FDA requirements.

• Prior to removing trans fat from our chips, we listed trans fat on the Nutrition Facts Panel more than two years prior to the 2006 FDA mandate.

• While most Frito-Lay snack chips are available in single-portion packaging, our small- and medium-sized packages include dual labeling to provide consumers with the nutritional information for the single serving and the entire package.

• Frito-Lay began voluntarily listing the monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats on the Nutrition Facts Panel of many core products, which helps consumers more easily identify “good” heart-healthier unsaturated fats in our products. 

For more information on National Nutrition Month, please visit www.eatright.org/nnm. 

- Danielle

Comments

[Sandra Bond]

When will the Dallas area get the Doritos First Degree Burn. My office got some samples and we LOVE them. We have all been looking in our stores but are yet to be found. Please advise of a date when we can purchase them.

[Kristin]

Sandra - the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Degree Burn Doritos are in Dallas now! Use our product locator on Fritolay.com to find stores near you that carry them: http://www.fritolay.com/our-snacks/where-to-buy.html
Thanks for your comment! - Kristin H

[notransfatpls]

Sadly, some of Frito-Lay's other products still has trans fat, example: Grandma's cookies products. If you're going to improve the health profile of your products, then please do so with all your products.