Health Insurance

Civil libertarians are groaning. Chefs are insecure. But, presumably, health insurers are happy with New York City’s recent ban on trans fat. Why? Because fewer of their premium-paying customers will check into the clinic for heart problems.

First the low-down on trans fat: It’s terrible for you. According to Wikipedia, eating it tempts coronary heart disease. It’s also associated with obesity, diabetes and liver dysfunction.

Citing the American Journal of Public Health, the Wikipedia entry on trans fat claims the substance is responsible for 30,000 deaths annually in the U.S.

The problem, though, is age-old: What’s bad for you also tastes great. Will New York’s fries and cookies taste as good after the ban? Perhaps not, although many maintain that trans fat isn’t as crucial to flavor as many think. (Read a great article in today’s New York Times about how chefs are coping with the new regulation.)

Trans fat occurs in some food naturally, but most of the trans fat we consume is the result on an artificial process called partial hydrogenation. Because of the economics of production and, ironically, the erroneous belief that the trans fats of margarine were healthier that the saturated ones of butter, fast food companies incorporated trans fat into their recipes in the 1960.

Knowledge of the health hazards has many fast food operations scrambling to alter their frying techniques, however. In 2003, the FDA decided to require food manufactures to come clean about their use of the stuff. New York City joins Denmark in imposing a blanket ban on the use of trans fat.

With the exception of their New York restaurants, McDonald’s (it’s weird to call McDonald’s restaurant, isn’t it?) hasn’t been able to kick the trans fat habit. They say removing the lethal substance would "jeopardize the iconic nature of [their] french fry.”

I suspect, though, that their fries will retain their iconic nature in the trans-fat-free Big Apple.