New York City intends to take one more step to protect its residents from unhealthy habits, reported dpa. After banning smoking in restaurants and the workplace and pricing cigarettes out of reach of the average person, the New York City Board of Health wants to force the city's 20,000 restaurants to stop cooking with trans fats. Trans fat is artificially created by adding hydrogen to vegetable oil to give more solid substance to the oil, although it also occurs naturally in dairy and other products. It is blamed for raising levels of bad blood-vessel clogging cholesterol. The artificial variety of trans fat is a "toxic substance that does not belong in food," said Dr Walter Willett, chairman of the nutrition department at Harvard's School of Public Health, in a statement posted Tuesday on the New York City health department website. Willet estimated that 500 deaths from heart disease could be prevented every year in the city - and perhaps more - by reducing trans fat in restaurants, where New Yorkers consume at least one- third of their calories. "New Yorkers are consuming a hazardous, artificial substance without their knowledge or consent," Health Commissioner Dr Thomas R. Frieden said. "Like lead in paint, artificial trans fat in food is invisible and dangerous, and it can be replaced." The city also wants restaurants to post calorie information on their menus.
