In honor of the passage of New York City’s trans-fat ban, the Wall Street Journal has an article out today (free link) discussing the future of trans-fats.
Two factoids in the article caught my eye, and I thought I’d share:
In 2003, Denmark became the first country to strictly regulate trans fats. There, it is illegal in processed foods for trans fats to make up more than 2% of a product’s total fat content.[...]
A large order of french fries and large chicken nuggets at McDonald’s in New York has 10.2 grams of trans fat, compared with 0.33 grams in Denmark, according to the New England Journal of Medicine.
Of course, inquiring Americans want to know — do fries at Mickey-D’s in Denmark taste as good as they do in the States?
1 response so far ↓
1 Phil Versten // 11 Dec 2006 at 1:03 pm
A front page news story yesterday in the Chicago Tribune (http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0612100368dec10,1,6513283.story?coll=chi-newsnationworld-hed)about the Trans fat issue, with much of the story devoted to how the solution (saturated fat) “is nearly as bad as the problem,” begs coverage of what alternatives exist beyond the “no guarantees” low-linolenic soybean oil. They quote Gary List and Penny Kris-Etherton in regard to how the trans fat alternative of saturated fats is almost as foreboding, but the media MUST know that, as much of the food industry now returns to the devil that made them seek out trans fats in the first place, a solution has since been developed that is natural and as safe as dietary fiber. In fact, the answer is made of dietary fiber.
By cutting those newly resurrected saturated fats by up to half with a fat mimetic gel made from the fiber of grain and developed by the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service in the 1990’s right here in Illinois, the world will have finally struck upon a solution that not only SAFELY cuts fat calories by up to half, but also assures those same foods will taste as good as always and contain some additional dietary fiber to boot. Now, I’ve got to ask: HOW is THAT not an equally impacting news story? It’s a complete mystery to me. Am I left to conclude that it is simply because the soybean oil industry has more influence and a greater PR machine?
The media should become familiar with such ingredients. One such, which was named the “Most Innovative Ingredient of 2006″ by the food ingredient industry, is given deserved recognition in an inset on page 90 of Dr. Mehmet Oz’s #1 national bestseller, “You on a Diet.” It’s called “Z Trim.” I hope THAT alternative gets some front page some day soon (www.ztrim.com).
Phil Versten