Target: Trans Fats

Certain canola, cottonseed, sunflower and corn oils could substitute for hydrogenated oils. But they're in short supply, since hydrogenated soy oil is cheap and has long been the industrial standard. Some 85% of the roughly 19 billion lbs. of edible oils Americans consume each year comes from soy. About 10 billion lbs. of that soy oil gets hydrogenated, according to Mark Matlock, senior vice president of food research at Archer Daniels Midland (ADM). But alternatives are on the horizon. ADM, for example, has developed oils that not only behave like hydrogenated oils but also, Matlock says, are relatively healthy. The biotech giant Monsanto, meanwhile, is working on a variety of seeds for a stable soy oil. The first non-genetically-engineered batch of those will produce only 80 million lbs. of oil this year, according to Robert Reeves, executive director of the industry's Institute of Shortening and Edible Oils. But by 2008, they could meet a third of the roughly 6 billion--lb. annual demand for frying oils.

But does the average American diner really care? The Hartman Group, a Bellevue, Wash., consultancy, has found that although a majority of consumers have heard about trans fats--mainly because of Joseph's Oreo lawsuit--only about 14% are likely to actively avoid them. Charlie Lousignont, an executive at Fazoli's restaurant chain, based in Lexington, Ky., which cut trans fats from most of its menu last April, points out that consumers tend to make choices based on taste, not virtue. "The ultimate food product," he says, "is low in calories, carbohydrates and sodium and has no trans fats. That leaves you with only a handful of things--like a carrot." Someday he might be able to add to that Spartan menu a reformulated Oreo.

--With reporting by Jeremy Caplan / New York; Matt Kettmann / Santa Barbara; Kristin Kloberdanz / Chicago and Barbara Liston / Orlando