Banning Trans Fat in Our Local Restaurant Foods

By Barbara Day, M.S., R.D., C.N.

Recently New York City's Board of Health approved the nation's first ban on trans fat. In fact, Louisville Metro Council Member Dan Johnson has proposed to prohibit restaurants from selling foods that contain trans fats.

While I personally think eating very little trans fat is a good idea, I am not sure reformulating recipes for the sake of community will make a big health difference. I really feel like offering nutritional information about table service restaurants, offering smaller portions sizes, and offering foods that are cooked in a more healthful manner rather than just deep fat frying would more effective at improving the health of our community rather than just providing information about trans fat or eliminating.

Read on to learn more about trans fats.

Fats 101

There are five types of fatty acids that include saturated fat – meat, butter, dairy products made with whole milk, and tropical oils such as palm and coconut oil; polyunsaturated fat – corn, safflower, sesame, soybean and safflower oil; monounsaturated fat – olive, peanut and canola oils, nuts, seeds, and avocados; omega-3 fat – fatty fish like salmon and sardines, flax seed, and walnuts; trans fat – shortening, margarine, fully and partially hydrogenated vegetable oils, products containing hydrogenated oil like pastries, crackers, cookies, plus meat, dairy products and fried foods.

Saturated fat has been known for years to be bad for your heart because it increases the low-density lipoproteins (LDL – “lousy” cholesterol). Monounsaturated fats have been shown to help protect against heart disease because they tend to lower the LDL. But, in an effort to extend the shelf life of the vegetable oils, a process known as hydrogenation, which added a few hydrogen ions, was developed. This process actually changes the biochemical make-up of the fats by altering the natural “cis” isomer structure to be transformed into an abnormal “trans” isomer structure. Research has suggested that this re-configuration tends to alter the basic metabolic pathways thus causing an increase in the total blood cholesterol and the LDL cholesterol and may also lower the HDL-cholesterol (HDL – “helpful” cholesterol). In fact, it appears that trans fat maybe the most harmful fat. In addition, research suggests that trans fat also may impair the functioning of the inner walls of blood vessels.

The Destructive Nature of Trans Fat

A study reported in the medical journal Lancet last year concluded that a modest 2 percent increase in the consumption of TFAs was associated with a 25 percent increase in the risk of heart disease. Researchers from the Netherlands followed a couple hundred men, over a 10-year span, who did not have a diagnosis of heart disease. They concluded that TFAs raised the LDL cholesterol and also lowered the HDL cholesterol. These researchers came to the same conclusion as Walter Willett, MD, PhD, from the Harvard School of Public Health. In his 1994 study, he reported that more than twice the risk of heart attacks from those who had a high intake of partially hydrogenated oils as compared to those who ate very little. He speculated that TFAs may cause at least 30,000 premature deaths each year. The FDA has suggested that listing the TFAs on food labels would save between 2,000 and 5,600 lives a year.

Finding the Trans Fatty Acids

So where does that leave the consumer? TFAs are found in meat, dairy products, pastries, crackers, cookies, and fried fast foods like French fries. Nutritionists for years have been telling consumers to read the food labels and choose foods that contained very little saturated fat. Unsaturated fat (monounsaturated and polyunsaturated) was a better source of fat than saturated fat. Overall, the suggestion had been to eat a low-fat diet, which would require consumers to limit their intake of all fat, which would also include TFAs. Beginning Jan. 1, 2006, the U.S. Food & Drug Administration required manufacturers to list trans fat on the nutrition label of most packaged foods.

The Catch 22 comes if the food item contains less than .50 grams per serving. Technically it can be listed as containing zero trans fats but eating numerous serving of that particular product can actually increase your intake without you even knowing it. There was hope that the FDA would adopt Canada's definition of zero meaning less than .2 grams per serving. If the food contained “hydrogenated oils” than the consumer could assume that there are some TFAs. According to the latest research on TFAs, the most common source is found in partially hydrogenated vegetable oil, where the liquid oil is turned into a solid.

The AHA recommends the trans fat intake not to exceed 10 percent of the total energy intake or less than 2 grams of trans fat per day.

What About the Trans Fatty Acids in Restaurant Foods?

However, if you are buying an item at a regular restaurant, typically you don't have access to the nutritional information of that product since most table service restaurants don't typically provide that information to consumers at this time unless they are franchises. However, many of the chain fast foods companies like KFC, Subway, Fazolis, Taco Bell, Wendy's, Pizza Hut, Panera Bread, Domino's, Arby's, McDonald's, and Papa Johns' have included trans fat information on their Web sites, which is very helpful. Restaurants like Subway, Fazoli's, Panera Bread, and most pizza companies, have very little trans fats in their food items because of the type of food they serve. Au Bon Pain, California Pizza Kitchen and Wendy's have taken trans fat out of their foods. If the food you eat out has been deep-fried then you can bet that it probably contains some TFAs. Also, if you are eating cookies, cakes, pies, biscuits and crackers, these products may also contain trans fat.

Many of the restaurant chains are looking at alternative frying oils that contain no trans fat but the taste, the texture and the consistency of the food item may be altered somewhat which part of the problem.

When it comes to local table service restaurants, to require them to discontinue using frying oils that contain trans fat may be a challenge. While is seems fairly easy just to switch to trans free frying oils, the product taste may be altered. As for the crackers and desserts they serve, unless the products are homemade, the restaurant will have to check the labels of the desserts they serve. If they are homemade and the ban goes forward, then the restaurant will have to reformulate their recipes.

No Trans Fat Does Not Mean No Fat or Calories

Keep in mind, just because a menu item does not contain trans fats does not mean that it does not contain calories and fat. Some consumers might miss that fact.

Barbara Day, M.S., R.D., C.N., is the publisher and nutrition editor of Kentuckiana HealthFitness and Kentuckiana Healthy Woman. She is the former sports nutrition consultant to the University of Louisville Athletic Department and the United States Navy SEALs. She is the author of Fast Facts on Fast Food For Fast People (ISBN 0-9631538-6-2) and High Energy Eating Sports Nutrition Workbook for Active People (ISBN 0-9631538-5-4). In addition, Barbara has a private practice specializing in sports nutrition and has a weekly health & fitness radio show on WKJK 1080 AM . She serves on the advisory board of the Mayor's Healthy Hometown Movement Advisory Committee. She is a member of PE4Life, Coalition for a Healthy and Active America, the American Dietetic Association, NAWBO and Greater Louisville, Inc. She is a runner, cyclist, hiker and grandmother.