• Higher Trans Fat Levels in Blood Associated With Elevated Risk of Heart Disease

Boston, MA — High consumption of trans fat, found mainly in partially hydrogenated vegetable oils and widely used by the food industry, has been linked to an increased risk of coronary heart disease (CHD). New York and Philadelphia have passed measures eliminating its use in restaurants, and other cities are considering similar bans.

A new study from the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) provides the strongest association to date between trans fat and heart disease. It found that women in the U.S. with the highest levels of trans fat in their blood had three times the risk of CHD as those with the lowest levels. The study was published online on March 26, 2007, and will appear in the April 10, 2007 print issue of Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.

“The strength of this study is that the amount of trans fatty acid levels was measured in blood samples from the study population. Because humans cannot synthesize trans fatty acids, the amount of trans fat in red blood cells is an excellent biomarker of trans fat intake,” said senior author Frank Hu, associate professor of nutrition and epidemiology at HSPH.

Clinical trials have shown that trans fatty acids increase LDL cholesterol and lower HDL cholesterol, making them the only class of fatty acids, which includes saturated fat, to have this dual effect. HDL (high-density lipoprotein) is considered a “good” cholesterol; LDL (low-density lipoprotein) a “bad” cholesterol…more details

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• Local Bans on Trans Fats: A New (and Legal) Way Forward

By: Sarah Romero

Harvard Law and Policy Review Online

We seem to have finally reached and surpassed a critical mass in the trans fat debate. Trans fat has been all over the news lately, spurred on by lawsuits and New York City’s highly publicized ban on artificial trans fat that went into effect on December 5, 2006. But really, the trans fat debate has been going on for almost twenty years. Only recently have consumer and public interest groups been successful in getting the word out to the public: trans fat is BAD. So bad, in fact, that in July 2002 the National Academy of Science’s Institute of Medicine concluded that the only safe level of trans fat in the diet is “zero.“

Trans fat is a monounsaturated fat that occurs naturally in low levels in milk and beef, but 80 percent of the trans fat Americans consume is from partially hydrogenated vegetable oil. The hydrogenation process creates an artificial “Frankenfat” through an industrial process that causes the hydrogen molecules in unsaturated and polyunsaturated fats to switch over from one side of the carbon chain to the other. Normally unsaturated fatty acids are in a liquid state. But hydrogenation causes the unsaturated fatty acids to solidify at room temperature. The inexpensive oils are attractive to food manufacturers because they have a longer shelf life and longer fry life than other oils. That makes them useful for fried foods like French fries, donuts, and taco shells. And they give baked goods like cookies, crackers, and pies the texture that previously came from lard…read more

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