

The move will remove artificial trans fats from the food supply almost entirely. Consumers aren’t likely to notice much of a difference in their favorite foods, but the administration says the move will reduce coronary heart disease and prevent thousands of fatal heart attacks every year.



“It may be considered by most physicians the worst type of fat you can eat,” 1010 WINS Medical Correspondent Dr. Brian McDonough said. “They raise your bad cholesterol and they lower your good cholesterol so there’s a double effect, so you’re really hurting yourself.”



As CBS2’s Dr. Max Gomez found out Tuesday taslking to people on the streets of New York City, the word on trans fats is out.

“They’re not my friends anymore,” one person said.

“Well, I know they’re bad for you. They’re horrible,” another said.

“A lot of  things I avoid like that and trans fat is definitely one of them,” another said.

Nutritionist Keith Ayoob of the Einstein School of Medicine said it’s that kind of consumer demand that led manufacturers to beat the government to the punch.

“This is a perfect illustration of when consumers drive the market, food manufacturers tend to respond more quickly than government does,” Ayoob said.

But some foods still have trans fat, and the FDA says those remaining in the food supply are a threat to public health. Some of the foods that commonly contain trans fats are pie crusts, biscuits, microwave popcorn, coffee creamers, frozen pizza, refrigerated dough, vegetable shortenings and stick margarines.








“A move like this could make a major difference,” McDonough said. “In my mind, this is as big as when they came out and had a surgeon general’s warning against cigarette smoking and this is very similar. This has this kind of an impact, you won’t see it right away but you will see it years down the road.”




Also contributing to the decline over the years are local laws, like one in New York City that restricts the fats in restaurants. Large retailers like Walmart have reduced the amount they sell.

“If you think about it, Mayor Bloomberg and a lot of the politicians in New York were kind of ahead of the curve with this because they recognized that these trans fats have longterm impact and perhaps in some way we can get these more or less out of our daily diet it can make a big difference for people’s overall health,” McDonough said.


