Chicago Tribune - Jul. 10--A little more than a year after McDonald'sCorp. extended its timetable to develop a healthier cooking oil, the fastfood giant is tinkering with a new formula in a handful of restaurantsacross the country.

Mike Donahue, vice president of corporate communications for McDonald's,said the company now is making rapid progress in conjunction with CargillCorp. in developing an oil that is lower in trans fatty acids andsaturated fats.

Trans fatty acids can lower helpful HDL cholesterol levels while raisingLDL (bad) cholesterol. It is created when manufacturers add hydrogen tovegetable oil--a process called hydrogenation that makes the oil moreshelf stable.

Restaurants and food manufacturers are under pressure to find analternative because the Food and Drug Administration has said it willrequire them to begin disclosing the amount of trans fatty acid in theirfoods by 2006.

Donahue's comments came a day after McDonald's was sued in federal courton behalf of a California woman who charged that McDonald's had notrevealed "to the public in an effective manner that it had not switched toa new, healthier cooking oil."

McDonald's denied it had hidden the delay. "In February 2003, we made abroad public statement that the change in our cooking oil was takinglonger than anticipated and would be delayed," the company said.

Other than saying that the company is moving "aggressively" to completethe testing, Donahue declined to say when the new oil will be introducednationwide.

Under pressure from critics who say the fast food giant's products promoteobesity, McDonald's has been pushing for the past year to introduce ahealthier lifestyle menu. Among other things, McDonald's has eliminatedsupersized selections of french fries and soft drinks and introducedsalads and fresh fruit.

Donahue said introduction of the oil was delayed when the fast-foodoperator ran into some glitches with its fries.

"We want to make sure how much some of the operational problems weencountered were caused by the potato crop and how much was caused by theoil," he said.

Testing is on-going in "various and diverse markets."

Donahue said it is important that McDonald's get it right.

"It's about world famous fries and making sure customers get the highestquality fries they are used to," he said.