icnmgrjill
12-28-2006, 07:25 AM
I received this today in my Medscape newsletter and it's so important that that we ALL mobilize to remove this VERY destructive part of the fast food diet. Just imagine the damage done to children and teens who eat fast food each day. Do we want our kids to suffer heart disease because we were too lazy to demand better food... especially when we know that TRANS FATS kill?? Check it out!
Partially hydrogenated vegetable fat is a disease-promoting artificial fat used primarily in fast food and other commercially manufactured fried and baked foods.[1] The trans fats in this synthetic ingredient inflame the arteries and accelerate heart disease.[1]
The average per-capita intake of 5 g per day in the United States increases the risk for heart disease by approximately 25%,[1] and a kids meal at McDonald's can have up to twice this amount of trans fat.[2]
A wise society would eradicate this harmful ingredient from the food supply by banning it.[2,3] Denmark banned these commercial fats in 2004 with no adverse effect on taste or price of affected food, including fast food and even their famous Danish pastries.
Indeed, the technology to satisfactorily replace partially hydrogenated fat with healthy alternatives currently exists.[4]
In the United States, elimination of partially hydrogenated fats would be expected to reduce the heart disease rate by 10% to 20%.[1] So why, after more than a decade of accumulating evidence against trans fats,[1,5] has the United States failed to rapidly implement this obvious public health measure? Ultimately, our food contains these harmful unnatural fats because we, the public, have failed to sufficiently demand their prompt removal. The medical leadership has not been aggressive enough in advocating for the public, and the political leadership has been too submissive to food industry calls for gradual change.
Shamefully, we have thus far allowed the food industry to dictate the pace of change and decide for us how to handle this enormous public health concern, but this is foolish. Allowing the food industry to decide trans fat policy is like allowing the cigarette industry to decide smoking policy.
Our job as a responsible society is to advocate for our children and ourselves by taking control of this public health problem.[6] We must find the moral courage to do the right thing and demand a ban on artificial trans fats without delay.
That's my opinion. I'm Dr. Michael Dansinger, Clinical Nutrition & Obesity Section Editor of MedGenMed.
Partially hydrogenated vegetable fat is a disease-promoting artificial fat used primarily in fast food and other commercially manufactured fried and baked foods.[1] The trans fats in this synthetic ingredient inflame the arteries and accelerate heart disease.[1]
The average per-capita intake of 5 g per day in the United States increases the risk for heart disease by approximately 25%,[1] and a kids meal at McDonald's can have up to twice this amount of trans fat.[2]
A wise society would eradicate this harmful ingredient from the food supply by banning it.[2,3] Denmark banned these commercial fats in 2004 with no adverse effect on taste or price of affected food, including fast food and even their famous Danish pastries.
Indeed, the technology to satisfactorily replace partially hydrogenated fat with healthy alternatives currently exists.[4]
In the United States, elimination of partially hydrogenated fats would be expected to reduce the heart disease rate by 10% to 20%.[1] So why, after more than a decade of accumulating evidence against trans fats,[1,5] has the United States failed to rapidly implement this obvious public health measure? Ultimately, our food contains these harmful unnatural fats because we, the public, have failed to sufficiently demand their prompt removal. The medical leadership has not been aggressive enough in advocating for the public, and the political leadership has been too submissive to food industry calls for gradual change.
Shamefully, we have thus far allowed the food industry to dictate the pace of change and decide for us how to handle this enormous public health concern, but this is foolish. Allowing the food industry to decide trans fat policy is like allowing the cigarette industry to decide smoking policy.
Our job as a responsible society is to advocate for our children and ourselves by taking control of this public health problem.[6] We must find the moral courage to do the right thing and demand a ban on artificial trans fats without delay.
That's my opinion. I'm Dr. Michael Dansinger, Clinical Nutrition & Obesity Section Editor of MedGenMed.