Although Laychur said that there will be some subtle changes in taste of the fried food as a result of the switch in cooking oil, the taste difference will not be noticeable to the average person.
"That's not to say that the flavor change would be a negative thing," Laychur added. "It might be a positive thing."
While French fries will be fried in canola oil, all commercially made frozen French fries are partially cooked by the company that produces them before they are shipped to Penn State.
If the French fries are initially cooked in oil with trans fat by the companies producing the fries and shipping them to Penn State, then they cannot be considered as a fried food with zero trans fat that will be offered on campus this spring, Laychur said.
Trans fat is commonly used by producers in food because it adds texture to products such as margarine, crackers, cakes, pasteries and cookies. Trans fat is found naturally in meat and dairy products, but only in small quantities.
Until this year, trans fat was not required to be listed by manufacturers in the nutritional facts label of food products.
Unfortunately, trans fat also raises bad cholesterol while lowering good cholesterol, and it clogs arteries, Laychur said.
Tyson Foods Inc., one of the largest companies the dining halls deal with, recently sent a notice informing Penn State it would be making the switch to zero trans fat.
"We can't make companies do it, but because of the public pressure most of the major companies are going to go to a trans-fat-free product," Laychur said.
"It will make it easier for us to eliminate as many trans fats as possible."
Penn State's bakery is looking for ways to eliminate trans fats from several of its foods and has started by identifying products that contain trans fat, Heather Luse, executive pastry chef at Penn State, said.
"We went through all the recipes," Luse said. "We had to see what ingredients had trans fat in them."
Currently, the bakery is testing some different kinds of shortenings -- fat used to make cake or pastries -- that are trans-fat free, but it has no timeline for when its products will be made using the different varieties of shortenings.
"We're working on switching it over as soon as we can," Luse said. "We have to use up what we have."
The dining halls will be continuing to add more products that are available with zero trans fat, and may be looking at its canned products as well as its frozen meat products, Laychur said.
"We will take it in a step-by-step process," Laychur said. "We don't want to bite off more than we can chew."
