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New York City Considers Trans Fat Ban

City Also Wants Calorie Counts Posted on Menus

September 29, 2006

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The New York City Health Department has taken the step health and nutrition advocates have long been pushing for. The city agency has proposed a ban on artificial trans fatty acids in foods served in the city's restaurants.

The substance is found in some margarine and cooking oil, and often turns up in bread and pastries. Medical science is nearly unanimous in its belief that trans fatty acids are unhealthy in almost any amount.

A similar ban has been proposed in Chicago, but has not yet received government approval. The wording of the Chicago ban would apply it only to fast food restaurants. In New York, all 24,000 of the city's restaurants would have to throw out their recipes using trans fatty acids.

Chuck Hunt, a spokesman for the New York City chapter of the state Restaurant Association, said the proposal goes too far. City health department officials concede the outright ban may cause temporary chaos among restaurants, but said the benefits to consumers outweigh those concerns.

"It makes perfectly good sense for health authorities to set limits on the amount of artificial trans fat in foods in the same way they set limits on various dyes, chemicals, or other additives in food," said Michael F. Jacobson, executive director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest.

"Fortunately, as Wendy's, Legal Sea Foods, and a few other chains and numerous food manufacturers have found, healthier alternatives to partially hydrogenated oil are available for every kind of food," Jacobson said.

CSPI first urged the Food and Drug Administration to revoke its approval of partially hydrogenated oil in 2004. Leading epidemiological researchers estimate that use of partially hydrogenated oil kills roughly 50,000 Americans -- including about 1,500 New Yorkers -- each year.

A Problem for Chains?

Restaurant chains may face the biggest hurdles, since their recipes would no longer be legal in the nation's largest market.

Health advocates note a New York ban on trans fatty acids should be an opportune time to make similar changes nationwide.

When Denmark banned trans fatty acids in processed food, McDonald's switched to a trans fat-free cooking oil at its stores in that country. However, it still uses the substance at its restaurants in the U.S.

Trans fat is formed when liquid vegetable oils go through a chemical process called hydrogenation, in which hydrogen is added to make the oils more solid. Hydrogenated vegetable fats are used by food processors because they allow longer shelf-life and give food desirable taste, shape, and texture.

The majority of trans fat can be found in shortenings, stick margarine, cookies, crackers, snack foods, fried foods doughnuts, pastries, baked goods, and other processed foods made with or fried in partially hydrogenated oils.

The FDA estimates that the average daily intake of trans fat in the U.S. population is about 5.8 grams or 2.6 percent of calories per day for individuals 20 years of age and older.

The American Heart Association says evidence suggests that consumption of trans fat raises LDL ("bad") cholesterol levels and lowers HDL ("good") cholesterol levels, causing the arteries to become clogged and increasing the risk of developing heart disease and stroke.

Calorie Content

The second proposal advanced by New York's Department of Health and Mental Hygiene would require all restaurants that currently make available calorie information for standardized menu items to list calories on menus and menu boards.

Fast-food chains that have nutrition information on web sites, like McDonald's, Burger King, KFC, and Cosi would have to list calorie counts on their menu boards alongside the menu item and the price in all their New York City outlets.

Listing calories on menus would help people make more informed choices when eating out, according to CSPI. For instance, people might be surprised to learn that a large shake at McDonald's (1,160 calories) has twice as many calories as a Big Mac (560). At Subway, most people wouldn't assume that a 6-inch tuna sub actually has more calories (530) than a 6-inch roast beef (290).

"With people eating more and more of their meals away from home, putting calorie counts on menus and menu boards will help Americans watch their weight and encourage restaurant chains to add a wider variety of options," said CSPI nutrition policy director Margo G. Wootan.

"If chains already have this information, they should make it available to their customers when they’re deciding what to order instead of hiding it on a web site."

CSPI has helped advance similar menu-labeling proposals in about a dozen state legislatures and in Congress. The federal bills are known as the Menu Education and Labeling, or MEAL, Acts. In the District of Columbia, a menu labeling bill enjoys majority support in the city council but has yet to come up for a vote.

The next step for the New York City proposals is a public hearing on October 30.

"The Board of Health and the Bloomberg administration deserve enormous credit for putting these urgently needed health measures on the front burner," said Jacobson. "Reducing use of partially hydrogenated oils and putting calorie counts on menus are easy ways to help New Yorkers reduce their risks of heart disease and obesity."

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