Trans Fat Free Dining In New York?
If you’re from New York and regularly drop by McDonald’s for your usual lunch of fries and burger, then this may be good news for you.
New York health officials are seriously considering banning the use of artificial trans fats in restaurants. Artificial trans fatty acids or trans fats increase the risks of coronary heart disease and other chronic health conditions including cancer, diabetes, obesity and liver dysfunction.
Trans fats occur naturally in some meat and dairy products in very small quantities. However, it is the addition of artificial trans fats, believed to be worse than naturally occuring ones, that prove to be a problem.
New York is home to over 24,000 restaurants and food chains. The executive vice-president of the New York City chapter of the New York State Restaurant Association is far from pleased with the proposal. He stated that the move would create havoc:
“Labeling is one thing, but when they totally ban a product, it goes well beyond what we think is prudent and acceptable. Cooks would be forced to discard old recipes and scrutinize every ingredient in their pantry.”
If I should recall correctly, labelling is not an option, since the restaurant industry has long been fighting against labelling.
I agree with Health Commissioner Thomas Frieden when he acknowledged that:
“The ban would be a challenge for restaurants, but he said trans fats can easily be replaced with substitute oils that taste the same or better and are far less unhealthy.”
This is one hurdle worth tackling. In a recent Growers and Grocers article by Erin Rosas of the nutritional program, The 80% Solution, developed by Rosas Farms, she wrote about the 10 steps to improving our “nutritional lifestyle”. The third step listed hydrogenated fats as one of the definite no-nos.
Should the proposal go through, NY food service establishments will have until July 1, 2007 to discontinue using artificial trans fats-ladened cooking oils, margarines and shortenings. Afterwhich, restaurants are given another year, July 1, 2008, to completely remove or substitute added trans fats in other food products. The ban excludes grocery stores and supermarkets.
Artificial trans fats are more commonly listed as partially hydrogenated oil and is found in many shortenings, margarines, pastries, cookies and doughnuts. The process of hydrogenation increases the melting point of fats, hence allowing fats to remain in a solid or semi-solid state, even without or decreased refrigeration requirements. Product shelf-life also increases, holding rancidity at bay.
Recently, Chicago have also announced the possibility of following the same footsteps. Tiburon, California have already joined the bandwagon in becoming America’s first trans fat-free city. Should you want to know more about the global movement to ban trans fats, you can find more information at bantransfats.com.
