Trans Fat Ban In The Big Apple

They said they really wanted to do it and now they have despite a flood of opposition and outcry from the city’s restaurants. New York City has just become the first area in the world where you are now forbidden to serve trans fat in any of your food offerings.

Nutritionists and health professional said the move was a good one and would help New York beat the problem of obesity that is crippling America but restaurant owners said that the ban was a waste of time and money and would have a negative effect on business and would make little difference to obesity levels in the city.

Trans fat is a by-product of cooking with partially hydrogenated vegetable oils, which make food taste very good. The trans fat is good also because it retains the flavour in food for longer than cooking with other oils does. The ban will mean that chefs will have to hurriedly change their menus and learn to cook the same food with other oils that are natural.

In New York City the Board of Health all voted in favour of the ban that is used for cooking by thousands of eating establishments all over the Big Apple. The Board of Health even ruled that now all restaurants will have to publish the amount of calories in the food on their menus for customers to see.

The ban is not immediate so that restaurants have time to make the change but from July 2007 cooking with trans fat oils will be banned and by July 2008 any artificial trans fat will taken out from restaurant kitchens.

You will still be able to consume trans fat in the safety of your own home if you like and it is worth remembering that trans fat occurs naturally in small quantities in some meat and dairy products. The ban is more about the excessive consumption of trans fat that has been linked to the blocking of arteries and heart attacks.