Fast-Food Fries, Chicken Fattier in U.S. By LINDA A. JOHNSON, Associated Press

[Guest guest]

Fast-Food Fries, Chicken Fattier in U.S.

By LINDA A. JOHNSON, Associated Press Writer

Wed Apr 12, 11:10 PM ET

 

 

 

Order french fries or hot wings at a McDonald's or a KFC in the

United States and you're more likely to get a super-sized helping of

artery-clogging trans fats than you would be at their restaurants in

some other countries.

 

 

 

A study of the fast-food chains' products around the world found

remarkably wide variations in trans fat content from country to

country, from city to city within the same nation, and from

restaurant to restaurant in the same city.

 

The researchers said the differences had to do with the type of

frying oil used, and the main culprit appeared to be partially

hydrogenated vegetable oil, which is high in trans fats.

 

" I was very surprised to see a difference in trans fatty acids in

these uniform products, " said one of the researchers, Dr. Steen

Stender, a cardiologist at Gentofte University Hospital in Hellerup,

Denmark, and former head of the Danish Nutrition Council. " It's such

an easy risk factor to remove. "

 

McDonald's Corp., which promised in September 2002 to cut trans fat

in half, and KFC parent Yum! Brands Inc. said the explanation is

local taste preferences. But nutrition experts and consumer

activists said it is about money: Frying oil high in trans fats

costs less.

 

The Danish researchers tested products from the chains' outlets in

dozens of countries in 2004 and 2005, analyzing McDonald's chicken

nuggets, KFC hot wings, and the two chains' fried potatoes. The

findings were reported in Thursday's New England Journal of

Medicine.

 

At a New York City McDonald's, a large fries-and-chicken-nuggets

combo was found to contain 10.2 grams of the trans fat, compared

with 0.33 grams in Denmark and about 3 grams in Spain, Russia and

the Czech Republic.

 

At KFCs in Poland and Hungary, a large hot wings-and-fries order had

19 grams of trans fats or more, versus 5.5 grams for wings and fried

potato wedges in New York. But in Germany, Russia, Denmark and

Aberdeen, Scotland, the same meal had less than a gram.

 

A large order of french fries at a New York City McDonald's

contained 30 percent more trans fat than the same order from an

Atlanta McDonald's.

 

Partially hydrogenated vegetable oil is cooking oil that has been

injected with hydrogen to harden it and give it a longer shelf life.

Switching to liquid vegetable oils such as canola, corn, olive or

soy eliminates the trans fat, as has been done in Denmark under a

2004 law allowing only a minuscule amount of trans fat in foods.

 

Trans fat raises bad cholesterol and lowers good cholesterol. Eating

just 5 grams of it per day increases the risk of heart disease 25

percent, research shows.

 

" Per gram, it is more harmful than any other kind of fat, " Stender

said. " It's a metabolic poison. "

 

McDonald's said it " continues to work diligently on ways to reduce "

trans fat in its fries. It said that most of its oils come from

local suppliers, based on consumer preference, and that the oil used

in the United States is different from that in Europe and elsewhere.

 

Stender and other experts said many restaurants still use partially

hydrogenated vegetable oil to save money because it does not spoil

and can be used over and over for frying.

 

Michael F. Jacobson, executive director of the Center for Science in

the Public Interest, said his group has petitioned the Food and

Drug Administration to drastically limit the use of trans fats and

require restaurant menus to note foods containing trans fat. He said

FDA is still reviewing the petitions, " even though they agree it's

killing thousands of people a year. "

 

In January, the FDA began requiring package labels to list trans fat

content. KFC and McDonald's both list the trans fat and other

components of their foods on their Web sites and in stores, on such

things as tray liners and brochures.

 

Jacobsen's center estimated a few years ago that trans fats

prematurely killed 30,000 to 75,000 Americans a year. That number

has probably fallen, he said, because many packaged-food companies

have switched to healthier oils.

 

But many processed foods — including pies, tortilla chips, margarine

and microwave popcorn — still contain partially hydrogenated

vegetable oil.

 

Harvard School of Public Health cardiologist Dr. Dariush Mozaffarian

and colleagues wrote in the journal that while it may be hard for

restaurants and food manufacturers to eliminate partially

hydrogenated oil, other countries have replaced it with unsaturated

fats without raising costs or reducing quality.

 

Doing so might prevent thousands of heart attacks and strokes each

year in the United States, they wrote.

 

Jacobsen said that the cost might be a penny per order of fries or

nuggets, and that the taste difference would be minimal.

 

" I don't think people would mind paying a penny more or getting one

less french fry to avoid heart disease, " he said.

 

___

 

On the Net: http://www.nejm.org

 

Harvard School of Public Health site on trans fats:

http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/transfats.html

[Guest guest]

This really makes you wonder how they come up with the nutritional

information that these companies post on their websites.

 

It's crazy, when it's so simple to reduce the trans fat content. Given that

more and more products are appearing now that have " 0 trans fat " on their

labels, consumers are clearly wanting this.

 

Given the financial, emotional, and physical cost to individuals and to

society of consuming trans fats, I'm not sure if " local taste preferences "

should even come into it. Those taste preferences are only there because

that is what they are used to anyways. I doubt the chain did a test drive

of non-transfats in that area and decided nobody liked it, and so put it

back in.

 

I remember hearing a radio interview a couple years ago with Voortman, which

was the first cookie company in Canada at least, to come out with cookies

that were free of trans fats. The interviewer said " but will they still

taste good? "

 

It made me laugh and wonder - did she think her grandmother used

hydrogenated oils when she baked cookies. In most cases...probably not.

 

Sorry for ranting!

 

Carol Ann

 

 

 

 

Order french fries or hot wings at a McDonald's or a KFC in the

United States and you're more likely to get a super-sized helping of

artery-clogging trans fats than you would be at their restaurants in

some other countries.