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California became the first
U.S.
state to ban trans fats, which are linked to coronary heart disease, after Gov.
Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a new legislation on Friday regarding their
removal from restaurants and baked goods.
According to the new law, trans fats, generally associated
to severe health problems, must be phased out from restaurant products starting
with 2010, and from all retail baked goods by 2011. Violators of the new California ruling will
encounter fines of $25 to $1,000. Nonetheless, packaged foods will be excepted
from the new measure.
Trans fatty acids, or trans fats, are usually found in
partially hydrogenated oils, which have become a very popular ingredient at
fast-food restaurants and bakeries because of their longer shelf life compared
to other oils.
However, various studies conducted over the past ten years
have proved that trans fats can lower “good cholesterol” (high-density
lipoproteins) and boost “bad cholesterol” (low-density lipoproteins), which can
be a major factor to cause heart disease and other health disorders.
Researchers at the Harvard University School of Public
Health estimate that artificial trans fats generate 50,000 premature
heart-attack deaths every year.
California,
the country’s most densely inhabited state, has been a pacesetter in health and
nutrition matters for a long time, and similar bills are pending in several
other states. The issue concerning trans fat bans are already being looked into
in a significant number of cities and counties, including Montgomery
County, Boston,
Philadelphia, New York
City and Baltimore.
Public health activists trust that the California ban will persuade national and
regional chain restaurants to adjust their recipes countrywide. In spite of the
fact that the Kentucky Fried Chicken,
McDonald’s, Taco Bell, Cheesecake Factory and
Wendy’s have begun to avoid trans fats, other chains maintain the use of
partially hydrogenated oil in their restaurants.
The California Restaurant Association strongly wrangled with
the bill, stating that the federal government and not individual states should
issue regulations on trans fat use.
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