| When the state House of Representatives passed a bill in June banning trans fats in Massachusetts restaurants, one of its main supporters cheered.“The question we must ask ourselves is, what is more important, a longer shelf life for us or our food?” Rep. Peter Koutoujian (D-Waltham), House chairman of the Joint Committee on Public Health, said at the time of passage. “I am proud to stand with my colleagues as we work to eliminate the use of this harmful additive, the impact of which has a staggering effect on our bodies.”
Four months later, nothing has changed, at least in a legislative sense, because the bill died in the Senate soon after. But as awareness grows about the dangers of trans fats, some restaurants — Friendly’s, Burger King, and Legal Sea Foods among them — have already begun voluntarily eliminating the heart-unhealthy fats from their chains, leading some to wonder whether a statewide ban is inevitable.
“It’s nice to see that nutrition is more than a fad these days,” said Jeff Sautter, a dietitian at Baystate Medical Center, who noted that California has already enacted a trans fat ban in restaurants, to take effect in 2010. “We seem to be among the first states that would do something like this, so hopefully we can follow their lead.”
‘Trans fat’ is the common name for a type of unsaturated fat with trans-isomer fatty acids. But they typically don’t occur in nature; most trans fats consumed in food today are created industrially through partial hydrogenation of plant oils. The goal of partial hydrogenation is to make fats more saturated, which not only grants them a higher melting point and makes them attractive for baking and frying, but also helps extend the shelf life of food.
However, it’s generally accepted in the medical community that consumption of trans fats increases one’s risk of coronary heart disease by raising levels of ‘bad’ LDL cholesterol and lowering levels of ‘good’ HDL cholesterol.
“Trans fats are going to have an effect on your heart, and there’s some indication that they may have a role in diabetes,” said Theresa McAndrew, a dietitian at Holyoke Medical Center.
She noted that, while people have become more familiar with the term ‘trans fats’ recently — evidence of a populace more prone than ever to watch their health by reading food labels — the artificial fats have been used in the food industry for a long time to prolong product life. “But they do have an impact on your health.”
Force of Law
Although California will be the first state to go trans fat-free in restaurants, smaller-scale bans have occurred nationwide since 2005, among them New York City in 2006 and Philadelphia in 2007. Chicago has enacted a partial ban on certain trans-fatty oils.
But in many cases, those municipalities are behind the curve of what restaurants — perhaps reading the tea leaves of public and medical opinion — are already doing.
For example, Child magazine recently honored Massachusetts-based Legal Sea Foods in an issue devoted to kid-friendly restaurants. In the writeup, Legal CEO Roger Berkowitz recalled a roundtable discussion at Harvard University that led him to change the ingredients used throughout the chain.
“Walter Willett, chair of the Nutrition department, turned to me and asked if we used trans fats in our cooking,” Berkowitz told Child. “I didn’t know what trans fats were, but they didn’t sound good. I told him I didn’t think we used trans fats, but asked how I could tell for certain.”
In Berkowitz’ telling, he returned to his kitchens and found trans fats everywhere: in the deep-frying oils, the frozen French fries, even the oyster crackers and the cheddar crackers kids received upon being seated. Within the year, Berkowitz and his staff had persuaded their supplier to offer a trans fat-free oil that can withstand high heat, and the oil actually won taste tests over the previous product. Legal also convinced its fry vendor to remove trans fats, but when the cracker suppliers refused, their contract was terminated.
Friendly’s and Uno Chicago Grill have taken similar steps to eliminate the unhealthy fats, as have many fast-food chains, which rely so heavily on deep-frying. Burger King is the latest example, eliminating trans fats in its cooking oils and baked goods starting last month. Wendy’s already made the switch in 2006, with Taco Bell and KFC, both part of Yum Brands, following suit in 2007. McDonald’s eliminated trans fats in its oils earlier this year and has committed to doing the same in its baked goods by the end of the year.
Overall, an aide to Koutoujian told The Healthcare News, restaurants in Massachusetts have not opposed efforts to ban trans fats; on the contrary, many seem to welcome any policy that standardizes the rules across the Commonwealth. Boston, Brookline, and Cambridge have eliminated trans fats at restaurants on the municipal level, and restaurants and their suppliers have been, if not welcoming, at least accepting of one-size-fits-all regulations.
For his part, Koutoujian has communicated with the state’s public health commissioner, John Auerbach, about possible non-legislative avenues for eliminating trans fats from restaurants, and the commissioner has promised to look into whether his agency has the regulatory authority to impose a ban. Notably, Auerbach’s former job was public health chief in Boston, where he enthusiastically pushed for the ban that took effect citywide in September.
Greased Frightening
Sautter, however, warned against consumers becoming too complacent about what they eat just because a food no longer contains trans fats.
“Fats in general, if you get too much, can be bad for your heart,” he said, noting that the wrong amount of any type of food can be harmful. “But trans fats are actually similar to saturated fats in that they can lead to cardiovascular disease. It’s debatable that they’re worse for you than saturated fats, but in any case, they’re bad for you.”
That’s why, he said, people shouldn’t get too caught up in preventing any trace of trans fat in the diet only to drop their guard with other saturated oils that food producers may use instead. He said trans fats are an easier target for regulation because they’re man-made, but any saturated fat should be ingested in moderation.
“Food companies use these fats to preserve shelf life and save money, and if they can’t use trans fats, they might replace that with palm kernel oil or another saturated plant source, which isn’t the best substitute,” he explained.
After the House passed its legislation in June, House Speaker Salvatore DiMasi praised the effort to eliminate a product blamed, by some estimates, for 4,000 premature deaths annually in Massachusetts.
“In a time when we are doing all we can to manage the cost of health care, this legislation will have a direct impact on improving public health by lowering risks that contribute to preventable deaths while lowering health care costs for everyone in the Commonwealth,” he said. “I am proud that with the passage of this legislation, Massachusetts continues its tradition as a pioneer in the field of public health.”
Well, not quite. But the food industry, in small ways, is starting to pick up the ball the Senate dropped — and run with it.
Burger King more progressive than Beacon Hill on health issues? Some might consider that a heart-stopping thought. |
