• Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil- banned in two European countries

From: The Independent, Health and Well Being

In Denmark legislation removing “hydrogenated vegetable oil” from the food chain was introduced in June 2003. Since then, the rate of heart disease among Danes has dropped by a staggering 40 per cent. The only European country to follow suit since then is Switzerland. Britain has no plans to take action, instead being content to leave the industry to get its own house in order.

Clinical researchers have discovered that ingesting just two grams a day of HVO – the amount contained in just one doughnut fried in this type of fat – increases an individual’s risk of heart disease by 23 per cent. This makes HVO much more dangerous to health than the saturated fats such as butter it often replaces. It distorts cholesterol levels, encourages obesity, causes inflammatory conditions, and can even be a cause of infertility.

Yet, despite the dangers, many major UK food producers continue to use it in everyday products. Brands that include it in their manufacture include Cadbury Heroes, some Nestlé and Mars confectionery, Batchelors Cup a Soups and even Haliborange Omega-3 Fish Oil capsules for children.

Hydrogenated vegetable oil, or trans-fat, as it is sometimes called, is also widely used in bakery products, and by restaurants and takeaways, where it usually does not have to be labelled and declared as being present.

“Hydrogenated vegetable oil may look and sound disgusting, but in many ways, it’s a food scientist’s holy grail,” explains the health writer and author Maggie Stanfield, whose recently published book, Trans-Fat: The Time Bomb in Your Food tells the full story of its acceptance by the food industry… read more

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• California Bans Trans Fat

California has become the first state to ban artery-clogging trans fats from restaurants. Registered Dietician Keri Glassman shows Russ Mitchell how to avoid trans-fat at the grocery store.

Other Sources: MSNBC.com *  The New York Times * The Huffington Post

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• Healthbeat – Trans Fat in your Diet

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• Fox News -Trans-fat Free

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• Windber to Eliminate Trans Fats From Hospital Food

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• Choosing Food without Trans Fat

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• How Trans Fats Became Our Enemy

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• Trans Fats are FINALLY Disappearing From Restaurants

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• CNN-New York city first to ban trans fats

From curbside snack carts to four-star restaurants, New York City chefs have until next summer to rid their kitchens of trans fat. It’s a bold move, but a necessary one, according to city health officials.

“When you look at the evidence, there’s no question artificial trans fat increases the risk for coronary heart disease,” says Sonia Angell, M.D., director of cardiovascular disease prevention and control at New York City’s Department of Health.

“The most conservative estimates show that the replacement of these fats with heart-healthy alternatives can decrease coronary artery disease risk by 6 percent, and it is likely even higher.”

In fact, a recent Harvard University study showed that women with low blood levels of trans fat are three times less likely to develop heart disease…read more

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• Trans Fat Consumption linked to other Health Problems

There are suggestions that the negative consequences of trans fat consumption go beyond the cardiovascular risk. In general, there is much less scientific consensus that eating trans fat specifically increases the risk of other chronic health problems:

• Alzheimer’s Disease: A study published in Archives of Neurology in February 2003 suggested that the intake of both trans fats and saturated fats promote the development of Alzheimer disease.^[43]

• Cancer: There is no scientific consensus that consumption of trans fats significantly increases cancer risks across the board.^[36] The American Cancer Society states that a relationship between trans fats and cancer “has not been determined.”^[44] However, one recent study has found connections between trans fat and prostate cancer.^[45] An increased intake of trans-fatty acids may raise the risk of breast cancer by 75 per cent, suggest the results from the French part of the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition.^[46][47]

• Diabetes: There is a growing concern that the risk of type 2 diabetes increases with trans fat consumption.^[36] However, consensus has not been reached.^[4] For example, one study found that risk is higher for those in the highest quartile of trans fat consumption.^[48] Another study has found no diabetes risk once other factors such as total fat intake and BMI were accounted for.^[49]

• Obesity: Research indicates that trans fat may increase weight gain and abdominal fat, despite a similar caloric intake.^[50] A 6-year experiment revealed that monkeys fed a trans-fat diet gained 7.2% of their body weight, as compared to 1.8% for monkeys on a mono-unsaturated fat diet.^[51] Although obesity is frequently linked to trans fat in the popular media,^[52] this is generally in the context of eating too many calories; there is no scientific consensus connecting trans fat and obesity.

• Liver Dysfunction: Trans fats are metabolized differently by the liver than other fats and interfere with delta 6 desaturase. Delta 6 desaturase is an enzyme involved in converting essential fatty acids to arachidonic acid and prostaglandins, both of which are important to the functioning of cells.^[53]

• Infertility: One 2007 study found, “Each 2% increase in the intake of energy from trans unsaturated fats, as opposed to that from carbohydrates, was associated with a 73% greater risk of ovulatory infertility…”.^[54]

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