New York restaurants slapped with trans fat ban

06-Dec-2006 - Last updated on 18-May-2017 at 14:28 GMT

The New York City Board of Health yesterday voted unanimously to remove trans fats from the city's restaurants in a pioneering move designed to limit the level of the unhealthy fats consumed unknowingly.

The proposal allows restaurants six months to switch to oils, margarines and shortening used for frying and spreading that have less than 0.5 grams of trans fat per serving. After 18 months, all other food items - including all margarines and shortenings - must contain less than 0.5 grams of trans fat per serving.

Introduced in September this year, the proposal resulted in 2,340 public comments, with 95 percent of these being in favor of the trans fat ban.

"The day we introduced this proposal, we emphasized that we would review public comments carefully. The message we heard was clear: New Yorkers overwhelmingly favor action to get artificial trans fat out of their restaurants. We also heard from restaurant operators who voiced real difficulties making the transition, and we've changed implementation plans to help restaurants implement the new regulations," said Health Commissioner Dr Thomas Frieden.

Trans fats are formed when vegetable oils undergo a process of hydrogenation, which changes the molecular configuration and properties of oils used for baking, frying, shelf-life, and other purposes. But hydrogenation creates trans fatty acids in the oil, and these have been repeatedly linked to raising blood cholesterol levels and promoting heart disease.

Trans fats first came into the public eye in 2003, when a lawsuit filed against Kraft Foods for the trans fat content of its Oreo cookies resulted in the firm reformulating its trademark product. Since then, increased public awareness and new federal regulations requiring manufacturers to label the trans fat content of their products have resulted in a mass reformulation effort throughout the food processing industry.

But the battle surrounding trans fats has since moved into the foodservice sector. This sector was first challenged on this issue in 2003, when McDonald's was sued for reneging on its promise to reduce the amount of trans fats in its oils. The action resulted last year in an $8.5m settlement.

In recent weeks, fast food chains KFC and Taco Bell announced they would transition to trans fat free cooking oils. Other restaurant chains to voluntarily slash trans fats include Wendy's, Ruby Tuesday, Chili's and Legal Sea Food.

According to the New York City Board of Health, heart disease is the city's leading cause of death, resulting in 23,000 deaths in 2004.

"The continued presence of artificial trans fat in restaurant foods needlessly increases the risk for heart disease for all of our city's residents," it said.

"Consumer concern about trans fat in food is evidenced by the increase in national sales of products labeled 'no trans fat' by 12 percent to $6.4bn for the 52 weeks ended October 2, 2004, compared with the previous 52-week period. Nutrition ranks second after taste as the factor most frequently influencing food purchases. Moreover, artificial trans fat can be replaced with heart-healthier oils and fats without changing the taste of foods," it added.

In response to comments received, the department said it will allow more time for the transition to trans free oils used in baking and deep-frying yeast doughs and cake batters (18 months instead of 6). It will also provide technical support for restaurants and bakeries, and a three-month grace period with no fines.