Editorial: Be wary of city bans aimed at trans fats

[The Straight Story]

Editorial: Be wary of city bans aimed at trans fats

More nutrition information for consumers may be worthier goal.


Researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health estimate that up to one in five heart attacks and related deaths could be prevented if industrial trans fats were eliminated from food in the United States. That translates to 250,000 fewer heart attacks and related deaths each year.
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Trans fats offer up an intriguing window into the evolving science of nutrition. In the 1980s, public pressure led many restaurants to stop using saturated fats such as beef tallow for deep frying and switch to partially hydrogenated vegetable oils. But over the years, it's emerged that these mostly manmade fats -- currently referred to as artificial trans fats -- are even more detrimental to heart health than what they replaced.

Unlike animal fats, which raise LDL ("bad") cholesterol, trans fats have double the whammy on blood lipids linked to heart disease. Trans fats not only raise LDL, they also lower HDL cholesterol, the good kind that scours out blood vessels. In addition, trans fats promote inflammation, also thought to play a key role in heart disease, as well as promote obesity and insulin resistance, a precursor to diabetes. Harvard researcher Dr. Walter Willett didn't mince words in an interview this week. "Think of this as arsenic. It's poison." And yet, artificial trans fats remain in the food supply -- mostly in deep-fried foods and commercially baked goods -- in large part because they don't spoil as quickly as other oils and they're often less expensive.

Although the food industry is making strides in removing trans fats, a national debate should have occurred long before now about the need for federal restrictions on this dangerous ingredient. Denmark has effectively banned trans fats, and a number of Western Hemisphere countries are pushing to restrict their use. But despite petitions from advocacy groups and studies from leading researchers, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) continues to classify trans fats as "generally recognized as safe."


http://www.startribune.com/opinion/editorials/38174269.html?elr=KArksc8P:Pc:U0ckkD:aEyKUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUU

[nichomachus]

1. They've also screwed around with how they calculate trans fat

For example, most of the items you see with "0 Trans Fat" on the box really do have trans fat in them. It's just that the industry got the government to rule that they could claim zero trans fat if there was 0.5 grams or less per serving.

So, they just change the serving size. I realized this when I picked up a normal size, individually wrapped muffin and saw that it was listed as "5 servings per package." So, it could have had as much as 2.5 grams of trans fat and still claimed zero.

[patriotvoice]

2. And that's indicative of yet another problem: portion size.

*Individually* wrapped, and *five* servings.

[drm604]

3. I know.

I end up having to read through the entire ingredients list looking for "hydrogenated" or "partially-hydrogenated" in order to avoid trans fats. It's a waste of my time but beyond that it's misleading people who are trying to avoid this shit but believe the "0 Trans Fat" text.

It's a lie. It's a lie that's been made legal, but it's still a lie. Hopefully our new government will make such lies illegal.

Also, I would like menu items in restaurants to be labeled TRUTHFULLY as to whether or not they contain artificial trans fats.

[juno jones]

4. Beware fast foods and junk foods.

Most of the restaurants I have worked in have never used the stuff, even in the fryers, but you pay for the privelege. I'm sure many fast food places who can get away with it are still using transfat blends because it runs about 2/3 of the cost of better oils.

My advice: buy local, buy fresh, ask questions, and for godssake, avoid those pre-packaged individual desserts like the plague. They are far fattier than something made at a regular bakery and contain all manner of preservatives and man-made ingredients like transfat (which also extends shelf life by being more 'stable').

Support your local baker, eat a real dessert. :)