Trans Fat Spells Double Trouble for Arteries.What the Food Labels Don't Tell You

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Posted: Tue Aug 03, 2004 8:52 pm

Trans Fat Spells Double Trouble for Arteries.

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WHAT'S NEW -- CSPI PRESS RELEASES

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For Release: Wednesday, August 7, 1996

Contact: Bill Bryant 202/332-9110, ext. 370

Margo Wootan, ext. 354

 

Trans Fat Spells Double Trouble for Arteries.

What the Food Labels Don't Tell You

 

French fries, fried chicken, baked goods, and hundreds of other

foods may be twice as bad for your heart as most people suspect, the

Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) warned today.

 

At a Washington, D.C. news conference, the nonprofit consumer-

advocacy group released the results of a major study on the trans

fat content of brand-name and restaurant foods. The results show

that many foods made with partially hydrogenated oil, vegetable

shortening, or margarine contain damaging amounts of trans fat.

 

" Many people know that the saturated fat in foods like hamburger,

cheese, and ice cream can clog arteries, " said CSPI senior scientist

Dr. Margo Wootan, " but few people know that trans fat raises

cholesterol levels as much as saturated fat does. "

 

Unfortunately, the amount of trans fat in foods is not identified on

their labels, although it is included in total fat. CSPI and many

health professionals have argued it should be included with

saturated fat because their roles in heart disease are similar.

 

" Trans is a secret killer, " said Dr. Walter Willett, chairman of the

nutrition department at the Harvard School of Public Health. " Labels

tell you how much saturated fat you're eating.

 

With trans, it's anybody's guess. " Willett's research has helped

establish the link between trans fat consumption and the risk of

heart disease.

 

CSPI analyzed 41 supermarket and restaurant foods purchased in seven

cities across the country. The results are being published in the

September issue of CSPI's Nutrition Action Healthletter.

 

Among the troubling findings:

 

 

French Fries. The hidden trans fat in McDonald's, Hardees, and

Arby's fries doubles the damage caused by their saturated fat.

Eating a large order of fries at one of those chains is like eating

a Quarter Pounder. " They might as well be frying in lard, " said

Wootan. The fries at Burger King and Wendy's are even worse, she

added. " To your arteries, a large order of their fries looks like

one and a half Quarter Pounders. "

 

Fried Fish. If the trans and saturated fats are added together, Red

Lobster's Admiral's Feast dinner contains a two-day supply of artery-

clogging fat. " That makes it a coronary from the sea, " said Wootan.

The dinner includes fried fish, french fries, cole slaw, and garlic

bread.

 

Fried Chicken. A KFC Original Recipe Dinner (a thigh, drumstick,

mashed potatoes, gravy, cole slaw, and a biscuit) has a full day's

worth of heart-damaging fat.

 

Baked Goods. The trans fat in a plain Dunkin' Donuts Old Fashioned

Cake Donut more than doubles the damage its saturated fat inflicts

on your heart. Eating just one is like eating eight strips of bacon.

 

Trans fat also increases the amount of harmful fat in many Danish,

pies, biscuits, cookies, and crackers.

 

Margarine. If full-fat stick margarines like Parkay and Promise had

to be honest about their trans fat content, they wouldn't be allowed

to claim that they have " 70 percent less saturated fat than butter. "

 

In letters released today, CSPI called on restaurants and food

manufacturers to switch from vegetable shortenings, margarines, and

partially hydrogenated oils to extra virgin olive oil and to

disclose the amount of trans fat hidden in their products.

 

Two-and-a-half years ago, CSPI petitioned the Food and Drug

Administration (FDA) to count trans fat as saturated fat on food

labels and asked that the FDA ban claims like " no cholesterol "

or " low saturated fat " on foods that are not also low in trans.

 

Dr. Willett; Dr. William Castelli, director of the Framingham

Cardiovascular Wellness Institute; Dr. Henry Blackburn, a professor

at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health, and other

prominent researchers also have urged the FDA to require trans fat

labeling.

 

Thus far, the FDA has failed to act.

 

CSPI is a nonprofit health-advocacy group that was founded in 1971.

It is supported largely by the 750,000 rs to its Nutrition

Action Healthletter. It accepts no industry or government funds.

 

CSPI is well-known for its tests of movie-theater popcorn, as well

as Chinese, Italian, and other restaurant food.

 

 

# # #

Note to Journalists: Dr. Wootan is available for interviews. Call

Richard Hébert at (202) 332-9110, ext. 370. A complimentary media

copy of the report on trans fat is also available.

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