The Fight Against Fat: a Personal or Public Preference?

New York City staged the first drama when it outlawed trans-fat from all its restaurant's kitchens. My own city is currently attempting the same via County Health Board legislation directed by a local physician. This, of course, has home players in a snit because 'whatwe choose to eat is our choice not government's!' I applaud this say-so.

Trans-fats are a big business initiative created (for profit) by pumping hydrogen into vegetable oil to make it solid at room temperature (think Crisco). Present in foods since 1911, they became so "routine" that it was tricky to find a cookie or chip that didn't pack at least a little trans-fat-punch. The curtain slowly began to fall when health care professionals became convinced that trans-fat (a) raised bad cholesterol, (b) lowered good cholesterol and (c) was increasing the risk for heart disease in folks who ate a lot of it. Their dialogue prompted lay-person education which scripted the "eater" more choice.

Saturated fats have been eaten by humans for thousands of years; butter is the most common. These fats also go solid at room temperature and can raise total cholesterol. Made from animal fats, they had limited shelf life and pricey tag. Shoppers began an obvious guard against fat grams about forty years ago in joint venture with exercise and wellness.

Trans-fats are man-made from plants. At first it was reported that they were "better than" saturated fat because of their plant-base origin. No one informed the consumer that they provided companies cheaper product base with Nirvana shelf-life! It was just few years ago that science and reality shared the same page with us: that trans-fats can be as bad for the body as saturated fats.

Today most physicians appear so alarmed about trans-fatitis that they support removal of it from the food supply. The U.S. Department of Agriculture recommends to the public eating "as little of it as possible" and earlier this year the Food and Drug Administration required food manufacturers to "tell" in writing on each package the amount of trans-fat contained. Food purchased at Wendy's and KFC is (as I write this!) trans-fat-free but other restaurants are taking legal issue with New York City's ban.

Me? I still love sugar cookie dough made from real Crisco so I tend to walk around those cans that banner "fat free" on a grocer's shelf. I like my Crisco as is, thank you, and think it unthinkable that any professional or government body would use their time to scrutinize the class of oil my fries are seared in. And what about the hottest designer fat?

Unsaturated fats (monosaturated fat and polyunsaturated fat) come from plants, too. They are liquid in use and at room temperature, monosaturated fat the preferred because data to date suggests this lowers the bad cholesterol while maintaining the good. Polyunsaturated fat owns the lower-your-bad-cholesterol gene although too much can also lower one's good cholesterol.

One local business owner (a 34-year, family owned donut business) stated it would financially dump him to switch to trans-fat free oil for donut frying.

"Our fryers use 1,200 pounds of grease and we go through 1,000 pounds a week" he reasoned. Citing approximately a $1,000 increase in weekly output should the ban go through, he said to "raise our prices would risk pricing ourselves out of business". Other locals can choose different route, especially if not use-challenged. Some diners have already done the trans-fat deed.

"For health's sake" said one owner; the owner, however, happens to be a gym/health rat like me who educates herself in these formats and made this choice on a personal level before implementing it in her business.

"Next they'll be saying when we can wipe our butts" said the frustrated/frightened business owner whose entire income seems in jeopardy.

"Nuh-uh" volley physicians who liken their lobby to other health/government innovation such as removing lead from paint.

And while I see both sides of the issue, my deal will ever be "freedom of choice". That's what needs to be remembered when chewing a rancid bite of history tagged 'prohibition'.