Doctor makes point against McDonald’s

� IN-FORUM �: "Doctor makes point against McDonald’s
By Patrick Springer, The Forum
Published Thursday, August 25, 2005
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Dr. Vinod Seth has grown weary of seeing the damage that diets heavy in fats routinely wreak: obesity, diabetes, heart disease.
The infectious disease specialist from Bismarck has become an outspoken critic of the fast-food industry, which relies heavily on processed foods high in trans fats.
“As a physician I truly believe trans fats are truly a public health hazard,” he said. “It’s a lethal cellular poison.”
Seth traveled to San Rafael, Calif., where he testified Wednesday against a proposed settlement in a class-action lawsuit against McDonald’s. He collected petition signatures of more than 80 North Dakotans from the Bismarck area.
“I did make my point,” he said in a phone interview after his testimony. “We got North Dakota there.”
Amid increasing public pressure, McDonald’s announced in September 2002 that it would reduce its use of trans fats in cooking oils by February 2003 – a goal it failed to meet.
Seth was one of only three opponents who appeared to speak against the proposed settlement, which calls for McDonald’s to pay $7 million to the American Heart Association for a public education campaign.
“I believe it lets them off the hook,” he said. Instead, McDonald’s should be forced to reduce its use of trans fats. “They did it in Europe, they’re not doing it in the U.S.”
Trans fats, which the food industry embraced as a replacement for unhealthy saturated fats, have been implicated in everything from diabetes to macular degeneration, Seth said. Trans fats are partially hydrogenated vegetable oils used to make crackers crisp and are found in the fryers of most fast-food chains.
The New York City health commissioner recently asked the city’s restaurants to stop serving foods containing trans fats, comparing them to toxic substances like asbestos or lead. Denmark has banned trans fats, and Canada is considering a ban.
Beginning in January, foods in grocery stores must carry labels disclosing whether they contain trans fats.
In his practice, Seth sees diabetes patients suffering from complications, including infections. Many patients became overweight because of a diet heavy in fast foods and processed foods, he said.
“The only thing that’s good about it is that it’s cheap,” Seth said of trans fat.
Readers can reach Forum reporter Patrick Springer at (701) 241-5522"

Hold That Fat, New York Asks Its Restaurants - New York Times

Hold That Fat, New York Asks Its Restaurants - New York Times: "Hold That Fat, New York Asks Its Restaurants
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By MARC SANTORA
Published: August 11, 2005
The New York City health department urged all city restaurants yesterday to stop serving food containing trans fats, chemically modified ingredients that health officials say significantly increase the risk of heart disease and should not be part of any healthy diet.
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Hiroko Masuike for The New York Times
Fast food on West 50th Street in Manhattan; all restaurants would remove trans fats if the city had its way.
Related
Hoping to Keep the Taste Yet Still Pamper the Heart (August 11, 2005)
The request, the first of its kind by any large American city, is the latest salvo in the battle against trans fats, components of partially hydrogenated vegetable oils, which three decades ago were promoted as a healthy alternative to saturated fats like butter.
Today, most scientists and nutrition experts agree that trans fat is America's most dangerous fat and recommend the use of alternatives like olive and sunflower oils.
"To help combat heart disease, the No. 1 killer in New York City, we are asking restaurants to voluntarily make an oil change and remove artificial trans fat from their kitchens," said Dr. Thomas R. Frieden, the city's health commissioner, who compared trans fats to asbestos and lead as public health threats. "We are also urging food suppliers to provide products that are trans-fat free."
It is far from clear how many restaurants will heed the call of Dr. Frieden, one of the city's most activist public health commissioners in a generation.
A survey by the department's food inspectors found that from 30 to 60 percent of the city's 20,000 restaurants use partially hydrogenated oil in food preparation, meaning that thousands of cooks and chefs might need to change their cooking and purchasing habits to meet the request. Trans fats are particularly prominent in baked goods, frying oils, and breading, and can be hard to replace without raising costs or changing the taste of familiar foods like cookies and French fries.
While the health department will not seek to ban the ingredient outright, it has begun an educational campaign among restaurateurs, their suppliers and the public denouncing trans fats. In a letter sent to all food suppliers in the city last week, Dr. Frieden wrote: "Consumers want healthier choices when eating out. Our campaign will increase consumer demand for meals without trans fat."
Many of the city's higher-priced restaurants already avoid using the fats, and Dr. Frieden said he had received a positive response from other restaurants and suppliers who will try to get on board.
"Working together to reduce trans fat from our kitchens will be one more way to ensure an enjoyable and healthy experience," said E. Charles Hunt, the executive vice president for the New York State Restaurant Association, which represents 7,000 restaurants across the state.
Public health officials contend that trans fat not only has the same heart-clogging properties as saturated fat, but also reduces the "good" cholesterol that works to clear arteries.
Denmark imposed a ban in 2003 on all processed foods containing more than 2 percent of trans fat for every 100 grams of fat. Canada is considering a similar ban.
Government agencies in the United States have been less interventionist, largely relying on the industry to police itself. Outside of New York, the only effort of note was a campaign in Tiburon, a small town in Marin County, Calif., that led to 18 local restaurants ending the use of trans fats.
New York's campaign comes on the heels of the Food and Drug Administration's finding that there is no safe level of trans fats in a healthy diet. As a result of that finding, all food companies must include trans fat levels in labeling information starting Jan. 1.
While the F.D.A. decision is already having a broad impact on processed foods sold in grocery stores, the city's effort will expand the campaign to include restaurants.
"Trans fat clearly contributes to heart disease, but it is something that is relatively new to the consumer environment," said Dr. Sonia Angell, the department's director of cardiovascular disease prevention and control.
Next year, the city plans to conduct another survey to determine the effectiveness of the campaign and will then assess what further steps might be needed.
While not naming individual restaurants, Dr. Angell said the survey the city recently completed did not show any clear patterns in terms of the types of places that use partially hydrogenated oil.
Among the alternatives available to replace partially hydrogenated oil, Dr. Angell said, are many common monounsaturated and polyunsaturated oils like olive, peanut, sunflower and cottonseed oils.
McDonald's and a few other fast food companies have pledged to use healthier alternatives to partially hydrogenated oils but have faltered in finding a solution that is both cost effective and that does not significantly alter the taste of their foods.
The city was careful to solicit the endorsement of the Restaurant Association before announcing its campaign, as well as the American Heart Association. However, many restaurant owners, workers and patrons interviewed yesterday greeted the city's campaign with some skepticism.
The reaction of Karen Quam, a waitress at the Bridgeview Diner in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, was typical. "Labeling is as far as you want to go," she said. "You don't want to be telling people what to eat."
Dr. Frieden, stressing that the campaign was strictly voluntary, said he was optimistic that both the public and the industry would react positively to his appeal.
"I am aware of the changing winds regarding nutritional advice and therefore we have been very selective," he said.
He compared it to the situation with asbestos and lead, materials that at one point the public believed were safe but now are known to be dangerous. "In this case," he said, regarding trans fat, "the evidence is clear."

MARGARINE - the science

C&EN: WHAT'S THAT STUFF? MARGARINE: "MARGARINE
This butter substitute was touted for its health benefits — until more studies clouded the picture


LOUISA DALTON





PHOTO BY JOSIE DALTON ESPLIN

Julia Child reserved margarine only for her enemies. "If you're afraid of butter, as many people are nowadays," she said on her television cooking show, "just put in cream!" But Child was bucking a national trend. A few years before her inaugural show aired in 1963, U.S. households started for the first time to consume more margarine than butter. Today, the average American eats almost two times as much margarine as butter.
Margarine wouldn't exist without butter, of course. From its inception, margarine was an attempt to mimic the taste and texture of butter. In the 1860s, Emperor Napoleon III offered a prize to the person who could produce an edible fat substitute for butter. Hippolyte Mege-Mouries, a French chemist, created oleomargarine, a combination of clarified beef fat, water, and a bit of tributyrin--a milk fat--to give it a buttery taste.
Mege-Mouries called it oleomargarine after the fatty acid then called margaric acid. It turns out that margaric acid (named after the Greek word for pearl--margarites--for its pearl-like luster) is actually a combination of stearic and palmitic acids, fatty acids often found in animal fats.
It would be hard to find beef fat or other solid animal fats in today's margarines. Soybean oil is the most common base in U.S. margarines; manufacturers also use sunflower, corn, palm, safflower, cottonseed, peanut, and canola oils. But they can do so only because about a century ago, French and German chemists figured out how to convert liquid vegetable oils into a semisolid product.
Butter owes its semisolid state to the saturation of its fatty acids. Fatty acids are the building blocks of fats and oils. A fatty acid molecule has a long, unsubstituted carbon chain with a carboxylic acid group at one end. Many fatty acid chains in butter (palmitic, stearic, and myristic, for example) are saturated with hydrogens; they contain no double bonds. These unvarying chains pack together nicely, and it takes more heat than is available at room temperature to get them to loosen to a liquid.
Fatty acids in oils, on the other hand, are mostly monounsaturated or polyunsaturated. Oleic and linoleic acids, for example, have one or more double (olefin) bonds along the fatty acid chain. Because natural double bonds usually assume the cis configuration, where the olefin hydrogens are located on the same side of the chain, these fatty acids contain a bend of about 30°. Fatty acids with cis double bonds don't pack well and are liquid at room temperature.
French and German chemists learned how to solidify liquid oil through hydrogenation. They heated the oil in the presence of a metal catalyst and pressurized hydrogen gas, causing hydrogen atoms to add randomly to the double bonds. Complete hydrogenation saturates all double bonds. Partial hydrogenation saturates some and converts others from cis to trans. In a trans double bond, the hydrogens are kitty-corner, which allows for compact packing of the fatty acid chains. The more complete the hydrogenation, the firmer the oil becomes--and the longer the shelf life. Oils turn rancid as double bonds oxidize in air.
Over the past century, margarine makers have favored partially hydrogenated oils--ones that remain soft enough for spreading on toast. To that semisolid fat base, they add a butter flavoring (buttermilk, whey, or a nondairy substitute), salt, emulsifiers (such as soy lecithin), a preservative like sodium benzoate or citric acid, some vitamin A to give it the nutritional value of butter, and a dash of yellow color (often ß-carotene).
In margarine's early days, its main selling point was its low cost. A strong dairy lobby, however, supported the Margarine Act passed by Congress in 1886, which added a two-cent tax to margarine and required expensive licenses to make or sell it. Most states also passed laws forbidding margarine manufacturers to add yellow coloring to the naturally pale spread. Not until 1967 did the last state, Wisconsin, repeal its coloring ban. By law, regular stick margarine must be 80% fat and 20% water or milk (with added vitamin A). Reduced-fat margarines and spreads, however, can range from 60% fat all the way to fat-free.
Margarine got a boost in the 1970s when studies came out indicating that dietary cholesterol and saturated fat raise LDL (low-density lipoprotein) cholesterol levels in the blood and increase the incidence of heart disease. Made with vegetable oils, margarine has no cholesterol and less saturated fat than butter. Naturally, margarine advertisers began to trumpet the health benefits of eating margarine.
However, further research on the trans fatty acids found in partially hydrogenated oils took many by surprise (C&EN, Sept. 22, 2003, page 33). Trans fatty acids, though unsaturated, were found to also increase LDL ("bad" cholesterol) levels in the blood.
In the U.S., the Food & Drug Administration will require labeling of trans fats on all products by 2006. In anticipation of the U.S. regulation, many margarine makers have found alternative fats and oils or alternative forms of hydrogenation that minimize the creation of trans fatty acids.
Grocery store shelves now hold a dizzying variety of margarines: Soft or hard. Made from safflower or soybean oil. Partially hydrogenated, saturated, or polyunsaturated. Made with yogurt. Made with olive oil. Some are even mixtures of butter and margarine."

Trans fats raise gallstone risk?

Trans fats raise gallstone risk?: "Trans fats raise gallstone risk?

20/05/2005 - Trans fatty acids could ‘modestly’ increase the risk of gallstone disease, say US researchers, providing yet more evidence to encourage food makers to remove these fats from food formulations.

Although trace amounts of trans fats are found naturally, in dairy and meats, the vast majority are formed during the manufacture of processed foods.

They are created during the process of partial hydrogenation, when liquid vegetable oils are converted into margarine and shortening: essentially to extend shelf life and flavour stability, as well as contributing to a harder texture.

But mounting evidence suggests the TFAs raise LDL (bad) cholesterol levels, causing the arteries to become more rigid and clogged. An increase in LDL cholesterol levels can lead to heart disease, the number one global killer.

The latest study by Chung-Jyi Tsai and colleagues from the University of Kentucky, US examined the consumption of trans fatty acids in relation to the risk of gallstone disease in a cohort of 45 912 men.

The researchers hypothesised that trans fatty acids may cause a change in lipid profile, associated with gallstone formation.

TFA consumption was tracked using a food frequency questionnaire and newly diagnosed gallstone disease, by radiology or cholecystectomy, was ascertained every two years.

“Our results suggest that a higher i"

Arkansas governor sets a trim example | ajc.com

Arkansas governor sets a trim example | ajc.com: "I try to take the approach that with foods that are filled with sugar or partially hydrogenated vegetable oil, that I'd be better off throwing away the contents and eating the box. At least I'd get some fiber out of it."

New Oils Provide Ideal Solution to USDA Trans Fat Recommendations

New Oils Provide Ideal Solution to USDA Trans Fat Recommendations: "New Oils Provide Ideal Solution to USDA Trans Fat Recommendations
Wednesday April 20, 4:40 pm ET
- Natreon Canola and Sunflower Oils Meet 2005 Food Guidance System and Dietary Guidelines

INDIANAPOLIS, April 20 /PRNewswire/ -- Natreon(TM) canola and sunflower oils are an ideal and available solution to the dietary fat intake recommendations included in the new Food Guidance System and the 2005 U.S. Dietary Guidelines because of their unique functional and nutritional profiles."

Trans fats on the way out?

Trans fats on the way out? Kraft foods said last month it has launched a trans fat free version of its iconic Oreo biscuit. The move follows a court case against Kraft’s owner Nabisco – that attracted massive media attention in the US - whereby consumer pressure group BanTransFats called on the firm to remove the biscuits from sale because of the 'harmful trans fat's to children'.

The case was later withdrawn because the lawyer who filed the suit said the publicity surrounding the case accomplished what he set out to do: create awareness about the dangers of trans fat. Kraft is now leading the way in efforts to reduce trans fatty acids in food products.

"Kraft has an aggressive plan in place to reduce or eliminate trans fat levels in our cookie and cracker products by 2004-2005," said Kevin McGahren-Clemens, vice president, cookies, last month.

Frito-Lay, a division of Pepsi Co, removed the TFAs from its snack product Doritos last year and soup giant Campbells announced in February that its Goldfish crackers, sold through the company’s Pepperidge Farm, will become trans fat-free. "The transition - which will involve reformulation of almost 165 individual products - will be largely complete by May 2004 and fully complete by September 2004," the firm said in a statement.

Trans fats may cause brain damage

Trans fats may cause brain damageTrans fats may cause brain damage


03/11/2004 - Foods high in trans fats may be damaging consumers’ brains more than other high fat foods, leading to memory loss in old age and problems performing simple jobs, according to new animal research. Chris Mercer reports.

Experiments with middle-aged rats, roughly equivalent in age to a 60-year-old person, showed that after only eight weeks of eating high fat foods, those on a high trans fat diet could not perform simple memory tasks as well as those on a high fat diet of soybean oil.

The study was carried out by scientists at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC), including the university’s director of the Center on Aging, Anne-Charlotte Granholm, who sees this work as another nail in the coffin for trans fats, one of the new ‘evils’ of food processing.

The group compared rats on a high fat diet of 12 per cent soybean oil with those on a high fat diet of 10 per cent trans fats and two per cent cholesterol. In one experiment, the rodents, all of a similar weight, had to recall the location of hidden platforms in a water-filled maze – a task the trans fat rats were around five times worse at.

A range of studies have already shown that high fat/ high cholesterol diets could contribute to learning and memory difficulties in the brain, but the MUSC research appears to highlight trans fats as the biggest single offenders.

Granholm said that while “it is always difficult to draw comparisons between animal studies and humans,” the study was nevertheless “quite alarming”. She believes food companies should show greater responsibility by cutting levels of trans fats in products more quickly.

The MUSC research is another kick in the teeth for trans fats, the common name for hydrogenated fats and oils, which are already thought to significantly increase the risk of heart disease by blocking arteries and have also been linked to a higher risk of Alzheimer’s disease.

Hydrogenated fats and oils have been widely used in the food industry for the last 50 years, primarily to extend the shelf life of products because trans fats do not go rancid as quickly as unsaturated fats. The high melting point and solid nature of hydrogenated fat also helps industrial bakers to maintain structure in their breads.

A number of companies have made commitments to reduce trans fats in their products, prompted by governmental and medical concerns. In the US, Kraft foods has launched trans fat free Oreo biscuits and PepsiCo now produces trans fat free Doritos through subsidiary Frito-Lay. In Europe, United Biscuits’ unit McVities has removed trans fats from its biscuit dough, though not cream filling, and UK retailer Sainsbury now claims to use low trans fat pastry.

Some alternatives to trans fats have also begun to appear, such as Danish company Danisco’s new emulsifier/oil blends and US firm Dow Agrosciences’ natural Natreon canola oil, which claim to fill the role of partially hydrogenated fat.

But MUSC study author Granholm said that trans fats should be removed even before alternatives have been perfected: “Trans fats have only been around since the Second World War and before that we obviously did fine without them.

“What will happen is that people will have to adjust their lives a little. For example, buying a loaf of bread and having it last for a month or more without freezing it may no longer be an option. In fact, most European countries live by that.”

Granholm said that the next step for herself and her colleagues would be to investigate the exact process by which trans fats affect the brain, and examine further the difference between cholesterol, saturated fats and trans fats in terms of the possible detrimental effects on people. She admitted that the group’s studies needed to be followed up by “careful examination of the human body” to gain greater credence.

By January 2006 all manufacturers operating in the US will have to label trans fat content on their products, according to a recent ruling by the country’s Food and Drug Administration.

Tanis takes trans-fat-free aeration unit to Interpack

Tanis takes trans-fat-free aeration unit to InterpackIn late February, Israel became the world’s third country to announce plans to impose compulsory labelling of trans fats on products.

All manufacturers in the US will also have to list trans fat content on product nutrition labels after 1 January 2006, while the last few weeks have seen calls for trans fat labelling rules from food safety and consumer groups in France and Australia.

Back in 2003, Denmark actually banned oils and fat from the market if they contained more than two per cent trans fatty acid, effectively banning partially hydrogenated oils.

Jason's Deli eliminates hydrogenated oils from menu items - 2005-04-01

Jason's Deli eliminates hydrogenated oils from menu items - 2005-04-01: "Jason's Deli eliminates hydrogenated oils from menu items"
Jason's Deli co-owner Rusty Coco said boxed lunches delivered to elementary and secondary school students were a priority and the first menu items "cleaned up."

The company is following new dietary guidelines set by the government that advise people to keep trans fat consumption low. The partial hydrogenation of vegetable and other oils creates trans fats.

tfX: Denmark's trans fat law.

tfX: Denmark's trans fat law.: "

Denmark's trans fat law
Executive Order No. 160 of 11 March 2003 on the Content of Trans Fatty Acids in Oils and Fats etc, English Translation
This is the full text of Denmark's law which bans the use of oils and fats containing more than tiny amounts of harmful trans fats."

BAN partially hydrogenated oil.

Watch out! Many products have labels saying they have zero grams of trans fat, but you will see from the list of ingredients that they still contain partially hydrogenated oil. That's because under FDA regulations "if the serving contains less than 0.5 gram, the content, when declared, shall be expressed as zero." Suppose a product contains 0.4 grams per serving and you eat four servings (which is not uncommon). You have just consumed 1.6 grams of trans fat, despite the fact that the package claims that the product contains zero grams of trans fat per serving. It's a very bad rule that should be changed!

Ban Trans Fats: The Campaign to Ban Partially Hydrogenated Oils

Ban Trans Fats: The Campaign to Ban Partially Hydrogenated Oils: "We have settled our lawsuit against McDonald's

Here is one of the huge number of e-mails that we received after the announcement of the McDonald's settlement that shows why we sued McDonald's:

'I wish I knew about this!!! I thought that McDonalds DID change from trans fat and that is why I have been eating there every week....damn it to hell!!'

"

Food industry hungry for a new kind of fat

Under U.S. Food and Drug Administration regulations, food processors will have to start labeling the amount of trans fats in their products by the start of 2006, and manufacturers are looking for alternative fats to keep that number as close to zero as possible.: "Food industry hungry for a new kind of fat"

Trans Fatty Acids and Coronary Heart Disease, Department of Nutrition, Harvard School of Public Health

Trans Fatty Acids and Coronary Heart Disease, Department of Nutrition, Harvard School of Public Health: " TRANS FATTY ACIDS AND CORONARY HEART DISEASE "