‘Low-lin’ oil helps keep us healthier and profitable

New enhanced-trait varieties to help soybean oil win back significant share of the market for edible oils

Increased attention to trans fat has led to a loss of market share for soybean oil, which impacts U.S. soybean farmers’ profit potential. Soybean oil currently represents 65 percent of all the edible oils consumed in the United States, but only ten years ago that number was 82 percent.

To help regain market share, the soybean industry has developed new enhanced-trait varieties, like low-linolenic and high-oleic, that meet customer needs without adding trans fat. In fact, low-linolenic soybeans already have helped keep soybean oil demand up and prices high. A recent soybean checkoff-funded analysis shows low-linolenic soybeans account for nearly 11 cents of every bushel of soybeans sold today.

Even farmers who did not plant low- linolenic soybeans have benefitted from the demand for low-linolenic soybean oil. As trans-fatty acids became a national health concern, food companies rushed to reconfigure their products to reduce or eliminate partially hydrogenated soybean oil, thus removing trans fats. Fortunately, the soybean checkoff began investing in finding a solution to trans fats in the mid-1990s, long before the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (USDA) mandated food companies label trans fat content on their nutrition labels.

The checkoff helped develop and promote the use of low-linolenic soybeans with the help of an industry-wide coalition called QUALISOY. A recent soybean checkoff-funded economic analysis reports that low-linolenic soybeans saved 894 million pounds of demand for soybean oil from other edible oils. That’s the same as the soybean oil from 8.1 million bushels of soybeans per year, a value of more than $703million collectively. Food companies have used low-linolenic soybean oil because it helps them provide consumers with healthier products. Today, the soybean checkoff helps bring another new soybean variety to the market, high-oleic soybeans. These varieties boast even greater benefits that will help to recapture the edible oil market share.