Dairy and meat products have small amounts of naturally occurring trans fats in them, but they are exempt from the federal laws that require trans fats to be identified on nutrition labels because those laws are aimed at artificially produced trans fats. Some companies, like Starbucks, want to be able to assure their customers that their products are entirely trans fat free and have required their bakers to switch from butter to trans-free margarine and palm oil. The bakers aren't happy about this, but consumers shouldn't notice a difference in flavor because of careful testing.

New York may be far from Texas and the Carolinas, but you can find some great barbecue in the city. This is good news for the millions of barbecue lovers who don't have too much of a problem finding excellent smoked meats, tender and slow cooked chickens, and piles of pulled pork.

Chodorow isn't the only one upset about his restaurants' reviews. Other restaurants have been known to sue critics for simply giving their opinion on their food.

Frank Bruni eats at Sfoglia and gives it 2 stars.

The TurboChef is one impressive - and expensive - oven.

Mark Bittman, the minimalist, makes a thai-inspired Winter Squash in Coconut Milk.

Harold McGee, the curious cook, makes fried fish with vodka and beer batter.

Convenience is, well, convenient, but it comes at a hefty price. Upscale markets like Whole Foods and Metropolitan Market in Seattle that provide prepared foods are charging an arm and a leg, but consumers don't seem to mind.

Crisco has gone the way of trans-fat free. Seattle Times provides answers to common questions about trans fats and recipes using the delicious, and now healthier, stuff: Classic Buttermilk Biscuits, Basic Pie Pastry, Apple Crumb Pie, and Currant Scones.

Out on the restaurant scene, everybody's favorite Chinese restaurant Doong Kong Lau heads to Central America and turns into El Salvadorean Mi Chalateca II.

Starbucks is the latest chain to try to jump on the no-trans fats bandwagon, trying to demonstrate to customers how much they care about health and nutrition. Starting this week, approximately half of the stores in the US, including those in Seattle, San Francisco, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Diego, Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., and Portland, Oregon, will have zero trans fats on their menus.

The company says that they have been planning the switch for two years now and that their nationally distributed pastries, primarily seasonal items like the Gingerbread loaf cake, are already trans-fat free. The rest of their pastries are baked by regional bakeries, which Starbucks contracts to provide pastries for their stores. These pastries vary from region to region, as do the recipes for them, so not every supplier has yet made a switch, but Starbucks seems to anticipate that it will not be long before they do.

So, if you're not located in one of the aforementioned areas of the country, does that mean you need to worry about trans fats at Starbucks? Not where drinks are concerned. According to the nutritional information on their website, very few of their drink products contain trans fats and those that do have only a very minimal amount. The pastries, on the other hand, vary widely by region, but judging from a random sampling of regional nutritional data (offered by zip code on the Starbucks website) your best bet will be a muffin or loaf cake if you want to minimize your trans-fat intake without cutting out pastries all together, at least until your area is declared trans-fat free, too.

Earlier this year, Disney announced that their theme parks would start selling healthier fare. The said that they would eliminate trans fats, place limits on the number of calories per portion and limit fat and sugar for snacks, sides and main dishes. Not wanting to be left behind, or accused of not caring about the health of their visitors, Universal Studios has announced that they will also be eliminating trans fats from their park menus.

The first phase of the switch officially took place on Christmas Eve, though the foods have been in development for some time, and now over 90% of the foods at Universal Studios locations are cooked in trans-fat free oils. The few items that are still cooked with trans fats, including churros, will be trans-fat free by the end of next year.

The parks will also be offering other healthy options, like fruit bowls and skim milk, both on kids and regular menus.

Health officials in Los Angeles and Philadelphia are considering enacting legislation that would restrict or ban the use of trans-fats in restaurant foods. These announcements come after Washington State announced a similar plan earlier this week.

In Los Angeles, a committee has been formed to investigate the feasibility of such a ban. That committee has 45 days to make their recommendation. If enacted, a ban would affect all of Los Angeles County. An additional piece of legislation, modeled directly from the New York rule, would require "fast food restaurants" to post nutritional data on their menus.

Philadelphia is not planning to venture in to the calorie-counting aspect of this trend, but lawmakers are seriously considering instituting a ban that will take effect in 2008. Their proposal, like the New York law, would inclue all food service venues but would exempt manufacturers and processed food that is served, at restaurants, in its original packaging

Soon, New York City might not be the only place in the country with a ban on trans-fats in restaurants. The Washington State Board of Health and Public Health commended the NY Board of Health and said that the ban "is a step in the right direction and is boosting awareness of the ingredient's link to heart disease and stroke." They will spend the next several months conducting their own studies to see whether or not to follow suit and ban the use of trans fats in the state.

The biggest issue holding them back from making the decision at this point is whether or not a change could drive small companies out of business. The National Restaurant Association has raised concerns in the past over whether the demand for trans-fat free oils will meet the growing demand, saying that the deadlines imposed by the NY Board of Health could cause restaurant owners, especially small ones, to pay a premium for the oils just to meet them, while larger restaurants will have the clout to work out more equitable deals with suppliers.

Many Seattle restaurants and smaller chains have already shifted to trans-fat free products, or are in the process of doing so. They say that it is an important issue to their customer base and they want to make them happy. The fact that these changes are already taking place could encourage the Board of Health to move forward with the issue.

When I read the article in the New York Times where a chef tested Crisco, coconut oil and other fats for frying and baking, I was very surprised to hear that Crisco came out on top in just about every test. I'm familiar with how shortening works, so it wasn't the performance that surprised me, rather it was the fact that there was not a crowd of foodies (or at least readers of Gourmet magazine) outside the test kitchen complaining that an all-shortening tarte tatin, which usually has a very buttery puff-pastry base, beat out butter. Butter unquestionably tastes better, especially in such a simple dish, and the only way to really screw it up is if you have a lot of difficulty working with pastry in general. To get a "firm and crumbly" crust with butter, it sounds like the testing chef seriously overworked his dough.

But to get back to the main point, the thing that was really surprising was not the tarte tatin result, but the fact that they didn't consider testing trans-fat free Crisco in addition to regular Crisco. Surely a taste test that pitted this against an alternative with trans-fats would have been more useful to professional and non-professional chefs alike! Crisco Zero has been on the market for about a year and a half now. It's not quite as widely available as regular Crisco, but it can usually be found at regular grocery stores. It offers the same performance - resulting, for example, in a flaky pie crust - but does not have any trans fats per serving. I've used it before with good results and it seems like a potential alternative for chefs trying to reconfigure their recipes to exclude trans-fats.

It's official. New York City has become the first in the nation to ban the use trans-fats at restaurants. The members of the Board of Health voted unanimously for the ban and heath advocates are already applauding the decision. Restaurants will have until July 2007 to switch to trans-fat free frying oils - meaning that all french fries in the city, as well as other fried foods will have to be trans-fat free by that time - and will have until July 2008 to remove all trans-fats from their food.

Trans-fats, which have been called "chemical abominations" by some health officials, are known to raise bad cholesterol and lower good cholesterol, changes which can contribute to an increased risk of heart disease. According to FDA estimates, "the average American eats 4.7 pounds of trans fats each year" in spite of the reductions that food processors have made with their use. They are favored in the restaurant and food processing industries because they are easy to work with, have a long shelf life and can increase the shelf life of foods that use them.

Last Sunday, the Opinion section of the Boston Globe featured a rather passionate piece by Christopher Kimball, founder of Cook's Illustrated. Kimball rails against processed foods, saying that the often expensive and unhealthy products have infiltrated the food industry "like a cancer." The main points of Kimball's piece--trans fats, relentless marketing and the economic impact of obesity in America--won't come as a shock to most of us. Still, Cook's fans should appreciate hearing Kimball speak his mind about something a little more controversial than Dutch process cocoa. (Registration with Boston.com maybe required.)

[Via The Ethicurean]

UK supermarket Sainsbury's is taking action on trans fats and flavour enhancers by removing them from its own-label processed food and drinks.

The chain plans to phase out the additives - it has 15,000 own-brand lines - by the end of next January. Trans-fats are of coursed linked to to increased cholesterol levels and a greater risk of coronary heart disease. Tesco is a little ahead in aiming for a similar removal by the end of the year. Marks & Spencer has already stopped using hydrogenated vegetable oils – the base for trans fats –in its food production.

Trans fats have received a lot of attention in the UK of late. While they occur naturally in some meat and dairy products their main source is manufactured foods. Health representatives are calling for proper labeling highlighting them in foods such as margarine, chips, biscuits and so on.

High levels are found in KFC Colonel's regular crispy strips and fries (4.4g/portion), McDonald's McNuggets and regular fries (3g), Saxby's fresh ready rolled short pastry (2.5g), Burger King Whopper and regular fries (2.3g) and Sainsbury's puff pastry minced beef & onion pie (1.8g)

Trans-fats, those that have no nutritional value, should be listed on food labels rather than be 'hidden' says an article in the British Medical Journal. A listing should reduce consumption and thus reduce coronary heart disease.

Trans-fats occur naturally in small amounts in dairy products and meat, but are also formed by a process called hydrogenation, which is used to extend the shelf-life of processed food. They thus appear in margarines, biscuits, cakes and fast foods. Recent US research has stated that just a 2% increase in the energy intake from trans fats can be linked to a 23% rise in the occurrence of coronary heart disease.

The British researchers also want saturated fats and cholesterol levels listed on food products which will enable consumers to make healthier food choices.

After banning foie gras on the grounds that it is unnecessarily cruel to animals, a member of the Chicago City Council is seeking to impose more food regulations on the city. Looking out for the heath of Chicago residents, Councilman Edward M. Burke has proposed a city-wide prohibition on trans-fats.

If passed, the measure would prevent restaurants from using oils during cooking if they contain trans fats. Burke said, "The end result could well be longer, healthier lives and reduced health costs for many Chicagoans." Participation would not be voluntary and fines from $200 to $1,000 per day would be implemented for restaurants who fail to comply with the law.

The biggest effects would probably be seen in fast food restaurants. The Wendy's chain has removed trans fats from their menu items, but other chains have yet to follow suit. If passed, they would be forced to do so in order to continue to do business in the city.

 

More trans-fat news:

• Limits for trans-fat consumption proposed
• KFC faces trans fat lawsuit
• Trans fats can give you a pot-belly

CBS News Healthwatch recently featured a list of the top ten trans fat foods, according to WebMD. At the top of the list were spreads such as margarine ("margarine is a twisted sister") and  I Can't Believe It's Not Butter. According to WebMD, margarines that come in tubs tend to have less trans fat per serving than those that come in sticks. Of the stick margarines rated by CBS, Land O'Lakes had the highest amount of trans fat per serving, 2.5 grams. Other items that were high on the list were packaged food mixes like Bisquik, cake mixes and Easy Mac. Ramen soups and fast food also made the roster. Frozen meals, pre-made baked goods, chips, crackers, breakfast foods including some cereals and toaster pastries, cookies, candies and dips rounded out the list.

There's more trans fat info available here.

With a unanimous vote by Parliament last year, Canada became the second country (behind Denmark) to declare an official "war on trans fats". A task force was set up to research how the carcinogenic, semi-solid fat could be eliminated from the Canadian diet, and, according to a report released Wednesday, they've found that it's not going to be easy – in fact, without government assistance, smaller producers are going to find replacing trans fats to be virtually impossible. Companies with sales under $1 million a year, the report said, "do not have the in-house research and development capability or the financial leverage of larger manufacturers." The report suggests that the federal government should broker relationships between farger manufacturers and research companies, and the smaller outfits that need help.