NYC bans trans fats

[KevinTheOmnivore]

http://www.usatoday.com/money/indust...-fat-ban_x.htm

New York becomes first city to ban trans fats
Updated 12/5/2006 4:16 PM ET
By Charisse Jones, USA TODAY

NEW YORK — New York today became the first city in the United States to prohibit trans fats in restaurants, a shift that will affect eateries from the corner deli to the brasserie and ultimately may influence how food is prepared at restaurants around the nation.
The city's board of health unanimously approved the ban, which takes effect July 1. It will bar trans-fat-laden oils and shortenings used for frying and spreads such as margarine that contain the artery-clogging ingredient.

Bakeries and restaurants will have until July 1, 2008 — an additional 12 months — to replace trans fats in baked goods such as pie crusts and deep-fried desserts such as doughnuts because it may take more time to find other products that achieve the same texture, health commissioner Thomas Frieden said.

"We know trans fats increase the chance for heart attack, stroke and death, and they don't have to be there," Frieden said. The new rules are "going to make New Yorkers live longer and healthier lives."

The ban will not apply to food served in a manufacturer's original packaging or to foods that contain less than 0.5 grams of trans fats per serving.

In addition to extending the phase-out of trans fats, health officials took other steps to help eateries comply with the changes, Frieden said.

The city will provide a product list and a help line. Additionally, there will be a three-month grace period at the start of both phases of the ban in which violators will not have to pay fines, which start at $200.

There are no plans to test foods for the banned ingredient. To enforce the law, however, inspectors will check labels, Frieden said.

Some restaurant representatives expressed disappointment, saying that even 18 months is too little time to find alternative products and modify recipes.

"It has taken restaurants that have changed two to three years to find alternatives, and the time limit that has been placed here is unrealistic," said Sheila Weiss, director of nutrition policy for the National Restaurant Association.

Charles Hunt, executive vice president of the New York State Restaurant Association, said a voluntary shift instead of a mandatory one would have been effective.

"The demand for the products is going to exceed the supply, and that's going to make it hard for restaurants to comply," said Hunt, adding that smaller eateries may have to raise prices and risk losing customers if trans-fat-free products cost them more. "The restaurant industry in New York is not going to go away based on this, but it doesn't make our jobs any easier."

Dan Fleshler, spokesman for the National Restaurant Association, said his organization will consider possible litigation to challenge the rules.

"We don't think it's a good precedent," he said. "We don't think a local municipal health body has any business banning a product the FDA has already approved."

Hunt agreed that the prohibition of a legal product was troubling.

"What's the next legal product the government says you can't serve — ice cream?" he asked. "It's a slippery slope."

Frieden said the board has the power to regulate the use of trans fats and added that it was unlikely other food ingredients would require such a ban.

"We're quite certain we'd be able to withstand any legal challenge if there were one," he said. "There is nothing else in our restaurant supply that has the kind of impact trans fats have … and can be replaced so easily."

Copyright 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

[FartinMowler]

I didn't know really what Trans fat was...I wonder what kind of foods you would have to eat to consume enough trans fats enough that it would affect your heath? I'm sure you eat enough things like wax/hair/animal feceas and such that could be a health hazard also.

rans fats occur naturally, in small quantities, in meat and dairy products from ruminants. Most trans fats consumed today, however, are industrially created as a side effect of partial hydrogenation of plant oils — a process developed in the early 1900s and first commercialized as Crisco in 1911. Partial hydrogenation changes a fat's molecular structure (raising its melting point and reducing rancidity) but this process also results in a proportion of the changed fat becoming trans fat.

Unlike other fats, trans fats are neither required nor beneficial for health.[1] Eating trans fat increases the risk of coronary heart disease.[2] For these reasons, health authorities worldwide recommend that consumption of trans fat be reduced to trace amounts. Trans fats from partially hydrogenated oils are generally considered to be more of a health risk than those occurring naturally.[3]

Trans fats are increasingly being linked to chronic health conditions (see below), are tightly regulated in a few countries, are mandatory on product labels in many others, and are the central issue in several ongoing lawsuits (particularly against fast food outlets). Many companies are voluntarily removing trans fats from their products, or establishing trans-free product lines.

Chemically, trans fats are made of the same building blocks as non-trans fats, but have a different shape. In trans fat molecules, the double bonds between carbon atoms (characteristic of all unsaturated fats) are in the trans rather than the cis configuration, resulting in a more straight rather than a kinked shape. As a result, trans fats are less fluid and have a higher melting point than the equivalent cis fats.

[kahljorn]

yea apparantly when molecular structures aren't suited for the body it doesn't know what to do with it.

on a similar note I've heard that honey is very good for you because it is such a complex sugar on a molecular level it metabolizes/digests differently than other sugars.

[Grislygus]

They're telling a bunch of New Yorkers that they aren't allowed to eat what they want?! Here's to the hopes of enraged mobs taking to the streets.

[Courage the Cowardly Dog]

This is a gross violation of freedom. Sure a lot of us choose not to eat artificial transfat but that is a CHOICE! And enforcing this violation of liberty is Like being gangbanged by a carrot and the book 1984 at the same time.

I hope they take this to a higher court cause this is proof that new York is full of tards.

Besides by not allowing transfats in the city, the commuters from New Jersey will have to drive around to get to work.

[Emu]

Yeah, and give us back our arsenic and lead in our water, too!

[kahljorn]

yea and while you're at it give us back our opium and cocaine.

[Emu]

In principle I think this is a good idea, but in practice it's going to be simply unworkable. Especially with this time limit, like the article said.

Prohibition, anyone?

[Courage the Cowardly Dog]

Originally Posted by Emu

In principle I think this is a good idea, but in practice it's going to be simply unworkable. Especially with this time limit, like the article said.

Prohibition, anyone?

When fatty foods become outlawed, the lazy slobs like myself must become outlaws.

Yeah it's better for you, but is it really the government's problem?

http://objection.mrdictionary.net/go.php?n=1568707

Do I here any arguments?

[kahljorn]

can't you just like goto a restaurant that's healthier and doesn't have transfats(not sure if they don't) like in and out or something?

I agree the time limit is a bit much but i don't really see why transfat is a big deal with recipes anyway. They knew it was bad for people and yet they put enough in it that their recipes actually need to be completely changed? Kind of strange. It's not as if they haven't had 10 years or whatever since all these health fads started going on to start researching new recipes. Some companies did and came out with new exciting ideas like salads drenched in dressing worse than the hamburgers. PERSPECTIVE: I think mcdonalds double cheese burgers contain 1.5 grams of transfat. That means they only have to reduce it one gram. Big whooptidue and if that makes it taste like shit than that just shows how shitty the food was in the first place.

and I've never made a recipe that called for transfat (i usually don't even use shortening). Do you know how easy it is to make bread or doughnuts or french fries what the hell it's stupid that they are complaining it will be SO HARD to find new recipes. OH NO I HAVE TO FIND A NEW WAY TO FRY FRENCH FRIES IN OIL.
I can understand it being hard to find a new, reliable source of what they want for the recipes but still.

any good restaurant (like above denny's quality) shouldn't have transfat in the recipes. That's why you pay for good food because it's good quality.

quite frankly businesses will bitch about any changes but it doesn't necessarily mean it's a relevant point they're making or that they are even necessarily telling the truth.

[DuFresne]

The cafeterias at my college use 0 trans-fat oil to make our fries. Seasoned well, they can be quite lovely

The ban sucks though

[zeldasbiggestfan]

You know this will raise prices for food in resturants. If someone already posted that then sorry. I didnt feel like reading.

[El Blanco]

There are resteraunts around here that advertise the fat they don't use transfats. If the law telling the resteraunts to state the transfat content, fine. Thats letting us know what we are in for. But to ban it outright is just more of this shit like we can't make our own choices.

They won with the smoking ban. Fine. But tell me, is there such thing as a second hand heart attack? Will the gunk in my arteries jump over to the person next to me?

Aren't there a few more important concerns? Kind of like police shooting unarmed men, school system issues, labor deals, bussinesses suffering from lousy tourist seasons etc etc.

[AChimp]

I'm all for bans on stuff like smoking, but this kind of thing is retarded. Like Blanco said, there's no such thing as a second-hand heart attack. When you smoke, you puff your shit all over the place and other people who don't necessarily want to smoke have to breathe it in. When you eat a burger, it doesn't magically appear in someone else's hands after you swallow.

Eating fast food and stuff isn't going to kill you. If that's ALL you eat, then yeah, you're going to be unhealthy but its your own damn fault for stuffing your face so much.

[Emu]

There is a difference between trans fats and cigarettes, and that's that nicotine is present "only" in cigarettes while trans fats are considerably more ubiquitous in the selection of foods available to people. And while you don't have to smoke, you do have to eat, and most of the concern over trans fats comes from the fact that trans fats are present in much greater amounts in foods that are generally cheaper and more available to families with lower incomes. So, for those people who simply can't afford to eat higher quality foods, the consumption of trans fats really isn't a choice of health as much as it is a choice of budget.

[KevinTheOmnivore]

I don't think the ban applies to packaged, distributed food. There's no way it would've passed, so this pretty much pertains to restaurants, delis, bakeries, etc.

[kahljorn]

I've never heard of second hand heroin injection either but you know it's still illegal for some reason :O

you guys act like this is going to ruin the face of the eatting industry. loll. NOW I CANT GET MY BIGMAC ANYMORE. Did you guys read what I said, they only have to reduce it like 1 gram in sme cases. it isn't like it's going to disappear off the face of the planet. Your concerns, like most people's concerns, are absolutely retarded.

OH NO THEY ARE GOING TO CHANGE THEIR RECIPES(which they do like once a year anyway) HOW AM I GOING TO GET A BIGMAC IF THEY'RE CHANGING THE RECIPE I DONT GET IT WONT THEY BE CLOSED DOWN FOR THE NEXT 20 yeARS AND NONE OF US WILL EVER SEE A BIGMAC AGAIN.

Also this isn't a ban it's a LIMITATION. Bans imply they have to have zero

the fact that the FDA hasn't banned or done something about transfats is basically showing they don't really give a damn about people's health and I don't know why they are called the "Food and Drug administration"

and just out of curiousity wasn't there already a ban like this in canada

[Emu]

Originally Posted by KevinTheOmnivore

I don't think the ban applies to packaged, distributed food. There's no way it would've passed, so this pretty much pertains to restaurants, delis, bakeries, etc.

What I said still stands regardless. A lot of families will spend their food budget eating out at cheap fast-food restaraunts buying cheap food that's riddled with these trans fats rather than buying actual groceries.

[KevinTheOmnivore]

kahl, I would personally love to avoid transfats. I would also love to make that decision on my own.

It's not about the inconvenience. You're right, it isn't a huge deal (although I see this hurting mom and pop delis and bakeries in the city, at least initially. Apparently canola oil is a comparable sub pricewise).

It's about the government, in this case a city government, deciding what people should and shouldn't eat. Much like the smoking ban, I'm sort of torn on the matter. in the long run, I know I'll be fine with it. But isn't that the problem with government incrementalism? The reason the FDA can't outright ban trans fats is because corporations would go nuts. NYC can do it, excluding packaged goods, because it's more feasible on a smaller scale. Fewer private interests to appease in the process.

And since i think the limitations on drug use are mostly pretty dumb too, you'll have a hard time selling me on a cheeseburger/heroin comparison.

[kahljorn]

lol.

the biggest point I want to highlight is:
"The reason the FDA can't outright ban trans fats is because corporations would go nuts"

Businesses pretend to go nuts about anything they think will make them less money, sometimes even if they don't know what will happen monetary wise, just because they are resistant to change and it changes the business field. And why is it that businesses are more important than the FDA or our health? Corporations shouldn't be above the law, and corporations shouldn't have any self-interested say in the law.

"It's about the government, in this case a city government, deciding what people should and shouldn't eat."

So if the government told you not to consume large quanities of cyanide, removed cyanide from foods/water, told you you couldn't eat any cyanide, (really replace anything deadly that's commonly found in foods and waters) "you" might complain that they are telling you what you can and can't eat and that you want to make the choice on your own?
It's not like transfat is some natural resource. It's a food additive that was invented in the 19th century. You're not even really eatting the transfat. I mean, unless you guys order bars of crisco from mcdonalds this doesn't really effect what you guys are eatting that much.

any bakery that uses transfats is retarded. I make my own bread and it only needs like four ingredients (it's really easy) and none of them are even transfat. I don't think transfat is an essential ingredient in anything. I'm sorry you guys will miss your crisco that much.

Plus haven't you guys ever been annoyed by a fat person? There might not be any second hand smoke but there's stuff such as crowded subways, heavy breathers, stinky armpits, stinky people in general, second hand farts, second hand burps, I mean the list goes on. Come on guys. And this is in the city with like the least amount of personal space per person in probably the entire world except maybe china or something. Fat people are just impractical in a situation like that.

[Emu]

I don't think it's really about them telling us what we can and can't eat. If NYC or whothehellever said you couldn't eat specific foods because they have trans fats in them, then yeah, I'd be pissed, because that IS telling you what you can and can't eat. But they're not doing that. They're changing the recipes and the forumulas to MAKE the food in order to get rid of an agent in the food that's known to be harmful, and moreover, unnecessary.

Like, you wouldn't say that the government's telling you what you can and can't drink by enforcing laws that require that the lead in your drinking water can't exceed a certain amount. The lead fulfills the same criteria as the trans fats. They're unnecessary, dangerous, and don't need to be there.

[kahljorn]

thanks for a better example than cyanide emu :O

[Emu]

I didn't see your post til after I posted.

[kahljorn]

lol It's okay.
alot of people just ignore my posts anyway so at least they'll be still be subjected to reading the same stuff

[El Blanco]

Water is also municipally supplied and an indgredient in everything. There is no substitute for it and it is vital to our survival.

Alcohol isn't too good for me either, but Bloomberg enjoys his beer, so I won't have to go on a rage just yet.