Attention media representatives and restaurant owners. Please note that the Zero Trans Fat Cooking Oil Contest website is at www.frytest.com. The FryTest.com website has a listing of zero trans fats oils and a listing of zero trans fat parfried products. FryTest.com is not part of BanTransFats.com.

When we started this website in April 2003, trans fats were not even on the national radar screen. It was easy to maintain a trans fat website in those days, because so little was happening.

Since that time, our campaign has resulted in tremendous success. Trans fat content in the national food supply has diminished dramatically. There is so much news about trans fat that it is impossible to track it. For that reason, we are not keeping this website updated. Much of the information on this website is out of date. However, the health information is current.

This website is now part of history. It was highly influential in the national trans fat campaign. We hope that you will enjoy and find value in the website despite the fact that we are not keeping it updated.

T-SHIRTS AND STICKERS ARE NO LONGER AVAILABLE. PLEASE DO NOT SEND ANY PAYMENTS OR CONTRIBUTIONS.

Stephen Joseph
Chief Executive Officer

This home page is designed for people who are already familiar with the trans fat problem. If you want to learn about trans fat, you should start on the About Trans Fat page. After reviewing that page, you can return to this page.

Click here for a very brief summary of four important studies about the health effects of trans fats.

VICTORY!!!!!!!

Governor Schwarzenegger signs the trans fat bill

Thanks a million!

On April 21, 2007, this website passed the one million visitors mark. (We don't count hits or pageviews like some other websites because that would be a misleadingly high number.)

Thanks to all of you who have made financial contributions, provided information, pointed out a huge number of typos, sent comments to the FDA through this website, and sent us many thousands of interesting emails.

You have helped make the ban trans fats campaign a success.

Who is BanTransFats.com?

After BanTransFats.com announced Project Tiburon in 2004, we were contacted by New York City officials who were interested in developing a similar program. BanTransFats.com has provided continuing assistance to New York City since that time.

On September 26, 2006, the New York City Health Department proposed for public comment two separate initiatives that will affect New York City restaurants.

The first initiative is a partial phase-out of artificial trans fat in all New York City restaurants.

The second initiative would require restaurants that already make calorie content publicly available to also post it on their menus and menu boards.

A public hearing was held on October 30, 2006. Stephen Joseph, the CEO of BanTransFats.com, testified at the hearing in support of the trans fat proposal.

On December 5, 2006, the New York City Health Department approved the new regulation with some changes.

Click here to read the notice of adoption and the new regulation.

Click here for an news article about the approval of the regulation.

Click here for a New York Times article in which restaurant owners in New York who have switched to trans fat-free oils are interviewed and report that there is no change in taste or increase in costs.

Click here to listen to a National Public Radio interview with the New York City Health Commissioner regarding the proposed ban.

Click here for an article about how smoothly the switch to the new oils is going in New York City.

On February 8, 2007, the Philadelphia City Council passed a trans fat ban. On February 15, 2007, the Mayor of Philadephia signed it into law. Click here for a news article.

Our responses to the criticisms
that have been made about the initiative

1. "There is only a relatively small amount of trans fat in the food supply, not enough to cause harm. "

Not true.

Dr. Walter Willett, the Chair of the Department of Nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health says:

The U.S. Government's recommendation in its Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2005 is "keep trans fatty acid consumption as low as possible."

• One McDonald's large fries contains 8 grams of trans fat.
• A McDonald's apple pie contains 4.5 grams of trans fat.
• A large order of KFC Popcorn Chicken contains 7 grams of trans fat.
• KFC's Chicken Pot Pie contains 14 grams of trans fat.
• A typical 3-piece KFC Extra Crispy combo meal, with a drumstick, two thighs, potato wedges, and a biscuit contains 15 grams of trans fat.

2. "Trans fat-free frying oils are not yet available."

Not true.

There are many trans fat-free cooking oils on the market today which are in use in hundreds of thousands of restaurants across the country. Here is a partial list of companies that manufacture or distribute trans fat-free frying oils in the U.S. and/or Canada. Many of these are in fact the same major companies that produce partially hydrogenated oils. Anyone in the restaurant business will recognize many of these names.

AAK FryChef
Aarhus
ACH
ADM
Asoyia
Bunge
California Rice Oil
Canbra
Cargill
CSP/Whole Harvest
Catania-Spagna
Conagra-Wesson
Loders Croklaan
Nexcel
Pyco
Restaurant Technologies
Riceland
Sams
Sysco
Supreme/Admiration
Ventura
US Foodservice

3. "Trans fat-free baking shortenings are not available."

Not true.

At the present time, many bakers use trans fat-free palm oil as shortening. Palm oil contains no trans fat and works very well, but is not a healthy alternative as it is high in saturated fat. While it would be perfectly legal to use trans fat-free palm oil under New York’s and Philadephiia's regulations, a lower saturated fat alternative should be used if possible for health reasons. There are many trans fat-free lower saturated fat alternatives on the market such as palm and canola blends and interesterified shortenings and oils.

There is even a Crisco trans fat-free shortening which has excellent functionality.

Some of the companies listed above that manufacturer or distribute frying oils can also provide commercial baking shortenings.

A baker can always call the American Institute of Baking if advice is needed, but it would very rarely be necessary.

4. "It is impossible to remove partially hydrogenated oils from everything."

Not true.

Ask the people at Jason's Deli. Jason's eliminated partially hydrogenated oils from every food item at all of its 156 restaurants nationwide and in all 1.6 million box lunches provided to schools annually. Legal Seafoods also removed all the partially hydrogenated oils from its food items.

5. "Trans fat-free oils make food taste bad."

7. "This will add to restaurant owners' costs."

Not true.

Switching to trans fat-free frying oil does not increase costs. The trans fat-free frying oils available today have fry lives just as long as partially hydrogenated oils. As every restaurant owner knows, it is fry life that determines cost. (We are using the term "trans fat-free oil” to mean oil that has not been partially hydrogenated or which would otherwise comply with New York City’s proposed regulation.)

A $26 case oil of trans fat-free oil that has 1.1 times the fry life of a $23 case of partially hydrogenated oil has the same cost. That single $26 case of oil will cook thousands of servings of food.

Half of the restaurants in New York City are using trans fat-free oil. Ask them if it's more expensive.

In Tiburon, California, “America’s First Trans Fat-Free City,” there is plenty of frying going on in the town's restaurants. They are not experiencing any noticeable increase in cost.

Even if there is any additional cost it certainly does not exceed $5 to $10 per week even in the largest restaurant. KFC's third-largest franchise owner, John Neal, says the difference in cost is pennies. Isn’t that a reasonable price to save lives?

Click here for the article in which John Neal is quoted.

8. "New York City and Philadephia have banned French fries and donuts."

Not true.

It's incredible that such pure fiction turns up in the media presented as fact. Every food that is on the market today, including French fries, fried chicken, fried fish, and yes - donuts - will continue to be just as available as they are today.

No foods are being banned. All that is happening is that an oil or fat in the food will be healthier. Customers will not notice any difference in their food whatsoever.

9. "Customers should have freedom of choice."

Yes they should. The more freedom of choice the better. So if Restaurant A uses trans fat-free oil and Restaurant B uses partially hydrogenated oil, how do you - the customer - know which one uses the trans fat-free oil? You want to make a choice, but can you choose? Remember, there is no regulation requiring restaurants to label. Some restaurant chains have websites with nutrition information, but there is no regulation requiring restaurants to disclose such information and most do not.

Trans fat is invisible, tasteless, and odorless. Trans fat is undetectable unless you carry around Gas Chromatography or other scientific equipment with you.

Gas chromatography equipment
Don't leave home without it!

One of the portions of French fries shown below is made with trans fat-laden partially hydrogenated oil. The other isn't. Which is which? Go ahead - exercise your "freedom of choice."

You can't make a choice without information. And given a choice, why would anyone choose the food prepared in partially hydrogenated oil? What kind of choice is that?

Do we eliminate the regulation banning arsenic in food in favor of giving people freedom of choice? We are not comparing trans fat to arsenic, but the principle is the same.

How do young children exercise freedom of choice? Do they have a sufficient understanding of the issues? What about adults who don’t understand health issues because they are complex? What about people who don’t speak English? Freedom of choice is fine for some people but what about everyone else? Do we punish people because they don’t understand health and nutrition, or do we protect them?

Right now the restaurant owners have the freedom of choice. They know whether they are using partially hydrogenated oil, but they don’t have to tell you. They have the choice but you the customer don't. Whose heart is it anyway? The restaurant owner's or yours? Do you want the restaurant owner to choose whether you have a heart attack?

10. "The government should stay out of restaurant kitchens."

Why? Because restauranteurs are health and nutrition experts? Because restauranteurs have the health interests of their consumers at heart?

Here is a quote from the owner of a Zagat-rated restaurant: "If somebody wants to suck down a gallon of Crisco, what do I care?" Click here for the news story containing the quote.

The government is already in restaurant kitchens, ensuring that our food is safe. We would be in big trouble if the government stayed out of restaurant kitchens.

11. "Instead of forcing restaurants to use trans fat-free oil, they should be required to label it."

The restaurant industry has been fighting tooth and nail to prevent labeling. They can't have it both ways. They can't refuse to label and refuse to eliminate partially hydrogenated oil.

One of our supporters asked the International House of Pancakes (IHOP), a major chain, whether any of its products contained partially hydrogenated oil. Here is the response:

The Health Department conducted a year-long education campaign to help restaurants voluntarily reduce trans fat. Information was provided to every restaurant in New York City and training was provided to help restaurants and food suppliers make the change. Restaurants were surveyed before and after the campaign. While some restaurants reduced or stopped using artificial trans fat, overall use did not decline at all. In restaurants where it could be determined whether trans fat was used, half used it in oils or spreads both before and after the year-long campaign. A year after this voluntary effort, New Yorkers are still being exposed to high levels of dangerous trans fat.

Tiburon, California was America's
First Trans Fat-Free City!

Project Tiburon is a project of BanTransFats.com. We worked with restaurants owners and managers in Tiburon's 18 restaurants, and all now use trans fat-free cooking oil for frying. You will see stickers like the one below in restaurant windows in Tiburon:

Tiburon is located on the San Francisco Bay, with a terrific view of the City of San Francisco.

The cooking oils used in restaurants are a major cause of the high trans fat consumption that we experience in the United States. It is not just the McDonald's and the Burger Kings and other "fast food" restaurants. Many "quality" restaurants use partially hydrogenated oils too.

Click here for more information about Project Tiburon.

Trans fat-free cities and states are spreading like wildfire!

Tiburon, California was America's first trans fat-free city. Project Tiburon was conceived and completed by BanTransFats.com in 2004. We went to every restaurant and talked with the owners or managers. We assisted those that were using partially hydrogenated oils in making the switch to trans fat-free oils. Click here for information.

Next was New York City following Tiburon's example

Following the success of Project Tiburon, BanTransFats.com worked with New York City that eventually led to the ban discussed above. For a newspaper article about how New York City used Project Tiburon as the model for its initiative, click here.

In July 2006, Chicago Alderman Edward M. Burke proposed an ordinance that would ban the use of partially hydrogenated oils for cooking in Chicago restaurants. Following a hearing in July 2006, he said that he would only target restaurant chains with at least $20 million in annual gross sales, including the major fast food establishments. Alderman Burke has asked them to act voluntarily in taking trans fats off their menus before seeking passage of legislation that would require them to do so.

Another hearing was held in September 2006. At that hearing, a consultant retained by the Illinois Restaurant Association sought to minimize the health risks posed by oils containing trans fat. He admitted that there was no question that the consensus of scientific opinion is that trans fat increases levels of bad cholesterol. However, he said it was "murky" how much of an effect that increase had on coronary heart disease and how much it raised the risk of death from the disease. "The question is how much impact does that have on development of coronary heart disease," he said. "And how big of a risk factor is trans fatty acids relative to the other risk factors that most people have" such as obesity, high blood pressure, smoking, and drinking alcohol.

The consultant retained by the Illinois Restaurant Association was trying to muddy the waters. There is nothing "murky" about the association between bad cholesterol and heart disease.

Now Alderman Burke has drafted a new version that would require all restaurants to label products fried in partially hydrogenated oils. The label would state: "Consumers of this product are hereby placed on notice that this restaurant prepares foods using cooking oils that contain artificial trans fats…The consumption of this fat increases the risk of coronary heart disease." The ordinance would take effect one year after City Council passage.

Regarding a ban, Alderman Burke has said: "We’d like to see Chicago do it before New York." “But in the interim,” restaurants should be required to warn consumers.

Click here and here for articles about the initiative.

Click here to see the PBS Newshour segment about the initiative.

Another trans fat-free zone has been formed in Westchester County where 125 restaurants have agreed not to use partially hydrogenated oil. Click here for information.

Another trans fat-free zone is being formed in Boston. Restaurants sign up, proposing one or more menu items that they believe will qualify as Boston BestBites and providing specific instructions for preparation. Brigham and Women’s Hospital nutritionists analyze the menu item, calculating calories, saturated fat, trans fat, and sodium content. Menu items that meet the program criteria, including the non-use of partially hydrogenated oil, are awarded a Boston BestBites designation. When menu items fall outside the criteria, nutritionists from the Boston Public Health Commission and Brigham and Women’s Hospital Department of Nutrition will work with restaurant owners and chefs to make healthy modifications to the recipe. Participating restaurants receive window decals, table tents and other promotional materials and share in advertising opportunities connected with the program.

Click here for information.

Click on the T-shirt to find out how to get one

In November 2004, the New Democratic Party (NDP) introduced a bill in the Canadian Parliament that would effectively ban trans fats. Click here to read the bill. In response to this initiative, the House of Commons by 193 to 73 passed a motion calling for the establishment of the task force, followed by regulations or a law to limit trans-fat content in all food products. Click gate io to read the motion and to see how each M.P. voted.

As a direct result of the NDP's initiative, the Canadian Government health ministry, Health Canada, announced the formation of a task force to "develop recommendations and strategies for reducing trans fats in Canadian foods to the lowest levels possible."

The NDP's initiative originated with the work of Pat Martin, M.P. NDP leader, Jack Layton, M.P. introduced the motion in the House of Commons and moved the issue forward with Pat Martin. Incidentally, BanTransFats.com provided information and support to Pat Martin. He learned about trans fat from our campaign!

On June 28, 2006, the Task Force issued its final recommendations. The Task Force recommended:

Girl Scout cookies still contain partially hydrogenated oil!