Target: Trans Fats

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Joseph, who believes trans fats in margarine helped kill his stepfather, sued Kraft in May 2003 to stop it from marketing Oreos to elementary school students. The suit drew hoots of derision from tort reformers, even though Joseph withdrew it days later, after Kraft announced it would banish trans fats from the Oreo and then committed to doing so across its product lines. It has succeeded in converting 73% of its cookies and crackers, including Triscuits. But so far, the Oreo project has put on store shelves only low-fat, sugar-free and "golden" varieties of the cookie, which taste nothing like the original, which is still sold. Kraft says it has found a fix, but the trans-fat-free original Oreo won't debut until the end of the year.

Kraft isn't alone in having suffered technical difficulties. Food giant ConAgra, which successfully produces trans-fat-free margarine spreads, has found stick margarine an intractable challenge. And trans-fat-free pie crusts, says director of product development Patricia Verduin, were as dense and chewy "as wonton wrappers." After 18 months, ConAgra has managed to strip several of its products of the offending fats, most notably its Kid Cuisine line. The customer response? Not a word. "The best reaction," notes Verduin, "is no reaction."

Some chain restaurants have had a tougher time. McDonald's promised in September 2002 under heavy criticism that it would change the oil in its fryers. (Buyer beware: a medium order of French fries contains 4 g of trans fats.) When that hadn't happened a year later, Joseph sued the chain for inadequately publicizing the delay. McDonald's agreed to settle with Joseph in February, promising to give $7,500 each to BanTransFats.com and a co-plaintiff and $7 million to the American Heart Association. It also agreed to spend $1.5 million posting temporary signs at its 13,000 franchises and publishing ads admitting its frying oil remains infused with trans fats.

McDonald's spokesman Bill Whitman says the chain has been testing new oils and has had some success cutting trans fats in its chicken dishes. But it still has a long way to go. Burger King seems in no particular hurry to address the issue. Spokeswoman Lauren Hammann maintains that trans fats have "never been an issue" with customers but adds that the company is looking into the question. Yum! Brands has been testing oil blends for Taco Bell and KFC (Pizza Hut has always been trans fat free), but Yum! senior vice president Jonathan Blum says the scarcity of alternative oils has hampered efforts.