New York passes first trans fat ban

NEW YORK – New York on Tuesday became the first city in the nation to ban artery-clogging artificial trans fats at restaurants, leading the charge to limit consumption of an ingredient linked to heart disease and used in everything from french fries to pizza dough to pancake mix.

In a city where eating out is a major activity – either for fun or out of hectic necessity – many New Yorkers were all for the ban, saying health concerns were more important than fears of Big Brother supervising their stomachs.

“I don’t care about what might be politically correct and what’s not,” said Murray Bader, nursing a cup of coffee at Dunkin’ Donuts on Tuesday morning. “I want to live longer!”

The 72-year-old Manhattan resident called the ban a “wake-up call” for a public often unaware of the risks of artificial fats. “This stuff clogs up your vessels,” he said. “When it comes to health, we only have one life.”

Toni Lewis, catching a quick dinner at McDonald’s before her daughter’s piano lesson on the eve of the vote, acknowledged that yes, it might be an intrusion for the city to tell people what they can and can’t put into their stomachs. But, she added, it was a welcome one.

“This is New York,” she said. “People eat out a lot. We don’t have a choice. We need someone to make it a healthier proposition.”

Health and nutrition groups say artificial trans fats clearly contribute to heart disease. Studies have shown they raise bad cholesterol and lower the good kind. Partially hydrogenated vegetable oil, the main form of artificial trans fats, is used for frying and baking and turns up in a host of processed foods: cookies, pizza dough, crackers and pre-made blends like pancake mix.

“It’s basically a slow form of poison,” said David Katz, director of the Yale Prevention Research Center. “I applaud New York City, and frankly, I think there should be a nationwide ban.”

Not everyone agrees with Katz – he’s gotten angry e-mails calling him and colleagues the “food police” and saying, “If I want to eat trans fats, that’s my inalienable right.” To which he responds: “Would you want the burden of asking your restaurant whether there’s lead in the food? Whether there’s arsenic in the bread? For all I know, maybe arsenic makes bread more crusty. But it’s poison.”

Some industry representatives were not happy. E. Charles Hunt, executive vice president of the New York State Restaurant Association, said the city had overstepped its authority by ordering restaurants to abandon an ingredient permitted by the FDA.

“This is a legal product,” he said. “They’re headed down a slippery slope here.”

The Board of Health, which passed the ban unanimously, did give restaurants a minor break by relaxing the proposed deadline. Restaurants will now be barred from using most frying oils containing the fats by July 2007 and will have another year to eliminate them from all foods.

New York’s ban marks a turning point for products that were introduced into the U.S. diet in the early 1900s. Crisco was one of the first products made with a process called “hydrogenation,” which solidifies liquid vegetable oil. Hydrogenated oils grew in popularity over the course of the century, and were recommended as a healthier alternative to saturated fats such as butter.

The consensus began to shift in the late 1980s, when researchers found that trans fats lower the amount of LDL, or “good” blood cholesterol, and increase HDL, or “bad” cholesterol. The American Heart Association recommends a daily intake of no more than 2 to 2.5 grams of trans fats, less than a quarter of what is contained in an average fast-food meal.

The New York ban, which was advocated by health-conscious Mayor Michael Bloomberg, follows a national requirement beginning this past January that companies list artificial trans-fat content on food labels. Efforts are also being made to reduce the trans-fat content of snacks in school vending machines.

The ban does not affect grocery stores. Nor does it apply to naturally occurring trans fats, which are found in some meats and dairy.

It’s the danger a bad diet poses to children that has experts the most worried. It’s also what worries Kathy Ramirez, a 26-year-old New York mother who takes her toddler to McDonald’s every week. She approves of the ban and a related measure passed Tuesday, requiring restaurants that already disclose calorie counts – mostly chain restaurants – to post them right on the menu.

“It’s hurting us, all this fat, but the kids really like it,” said Ramirez, pointing to 3-year-old Amber, who’d just finished her dinner. “It would be better to know what we’re getting.”

McDonald’s Corp. has been experimenting with healthier oil blends but has not committed to a full switch yet, though it has said it will be ready for a New York City ban. Wendy’s International Inc. introduced a zero-trans fat oil in August, and Yum! Brands Inc.’s KFC and Taco Bell said they also will cut trans fats from their kitchens.