Trans fat banned in New York restaurants
Wednesday, 06 Dec 2006 10:34
Artificial trans fat will be removed from restaurants in 18 months
Restaurants in New York City (NYC) have 18 months to remove artificial trans fat from their food following a unanimous decision by the city's board of health for them to do so.
Some restaurants will also have to publish information about the calorie content in their food.
The decision follows a drive by officials to tackle the city's health problems; in NYC heart disease is the leading cause of death and approximately one-third of daily calorific intake comes from food purchased in restaurants.
Artificial trans fat is found partially in hydrogenated vegetable oil which is used for frying and baking.
It is linked to an increase in heart disease, stroke and death as it elevates 'bad' cholesterol and has a negative effect on 'good' cholesterol.
According to the NYC board of health, studies have shown that if trans fat is replaced with currently available healthy alternatives then there could be between a six and 23 per cent reduction in coronary heart disease events such as heart attacks.
Commenting on yesterday's decision, health commissioner Dr Thomas Frieden said: "The day we introduced this proposal, we emphasised that we would review public comments carefully.
"The message we heard was clear: New Yorkers overwhelmingly favour 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."
Restaurants now have six months to switch to oils and margarines used for frying and spreading that have less than 0.5 grams of trans fat per serving.
After 18 months all other food items must contain less than 0.5 grams of trans fat per serving.