New York Proposes Ban of Trans Fats

New Yorkers have come to expect their vices will be banned. Indoor smoking is no more. There's no dancing allowed in bars. There's been a police crackdown on noise pollution. Next on the chopping block? French fries and doughnuts.

On September 26th, the Health Department proposed an initiative to phase out the use of trans fat, or artificial trans fatty acids, in all New York City restaurants. "New Yorkers are consuming a hazardous, artificial substance without their knowledge or consent," said Health Commisioner Dr. Thomas R. Frieden. He likened trans fat to lead in paint, saying, "No one will miss it when it's gone."
This proposed initiative comes on the heels of an unsuccessful year-long campaign by the Health Department to encourage restaurants to voluntarily limit their use of trans fats. Restaurants were surveyed both before and after the campaign. According to the report, while some restaurants stopped using trans fats, "overall use did not decline at all."

The average American eats about 6 grams of trans fats per day, much of it consumed from restaurant food. Trans fatty acids are commonly found in salad dressings, baked and fried goods (pie crust, chicken nuggets, mozzarella sticks, and donuts, for example) chips, breads, spreads (such as margarine) and frostings. Restaurant goers have no way of knowing which foods contain trans fats, or how much they are consuming. This is especially scary, considering the mounting evidence that trans fats are very harmful to the body even in low doses. "Trans fat from partially hydrogenated vegetable oil is a toxic substance that does not belong in food," said Walter Willett, M.D., Dr. P.H., Chair of the Department of Nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health.

Trans fats have been shown to lower good cholesterol and raise bad cholesterol. Studies have repeatedly proven trans fats are terrible for the heart and circulatory system. They clog arteries and make them rigid - in a recent Australian study, researchers found that "trans fats from both animal and vegetable sources were significantly more abundant in the fat tissues of heart attack patients than in the healthy volunteers." Trans fats have been linked to type 2 diabetes, insulin resistance and overall lowering of immune function.

Critics of the proposed initiative say restaurants and their patrons should be allowed to choose whether or not to consume trans fats. Given the growing pile of medical evidence against the substance and the resistance of the restaurant industry to food labeling, I'd say the healthier option would be to follow Europe's lead - again - and ban the fake fats.