If you live in the Big Apple or plan to visit there in the near future, you'll be happy to know that the trans fat ban will be in full effect by today, July 1. 
Exactly a year ago, all restaurants were required to eliminate trans fat from their cooking oils, margarines, and shortenings. This second deadline states that all prepared foods from restaurants, bakeries, cafeterias, salad bars, and food carts must contain less than .5 grams of trans fat per serving. Yep, by some FDA loophole, foods containing .5 grams can be labeled trans fat free. These various eateries do have a three-month grace period to comply with the trans fat ban; after that they can expect some hefty fines. Unfortunately, prepackaged foods sold in the manufacturer's original packaging at these restaurants, bakeries, etc. (like outsourced prepackaged salad dressing) are exempt from the ban. If so you'll still need to check labels on those foods.
If you frequent a fast food joint, here's what you can expect:
Dunkin' Donuts: Switched to a blend of palm, soybean, and cottonseed oil.
McDonald's: Eliminated cooking in trans fat oil last year. Now their cookies and apple pies are trans fat free too.
Burger King: In NYC chains, their fries, apple pies, and biscuits are trans fat free.
What can you expect from other chains? To find out read more.
KFC: Ditched trans fat and recently removed it from their pot pie and biscuits.
Pizza Hut: Removed trans fat from the one style on pizza that contained it.
Boston Market: In NYC, they're testing a trans fat free version of their chicken pot pie.
I'm really psyched for NYC (actually jealous), that this ban has taken into effect, but I wish these chains would ditch trans fat in other cities as well. Don't you?
Hugo Boss
Anya Hindmarch
Andy Warhol for Levi's
Awesome! I live in the Big Apple and it's great to know that the City is taking this step... Honestly though, it probably won't affect my current lifestyle anyway seeing as I can't even remember the last time I had fast food... :-\
1I just went to a Mets baseball game at Shea Stadium (in NYC) and all the food stands and such listed calories! Ekk! A slice of pizza has 500 calories! and the peanuts are getting close to 1,000. And those plastic baseball cap cups filled with ice cream are over 500!
2I can't say I really eat fast food anyway. When I'm in the city it's nice to get something else. It seems silly to go the city with all those different restaurants just to go to a fast food place anyway which I could do while here.
3Trans fats are terrible for you, but palm oil isn't much better.
4I don't know, this sounds great on the surface, but is there something else they put into it to make it just as bad? Fast food just never tastes "clean"
5Well, what I care about are the replacement oils. I have a serious peanut allergy and I certainly hope that no fast food chain I frequent has made the switch to peanut oil, or plans to in the future. I know that Chick-fil-a(sp?) uses peanut oil but there aren't any where I live, so I guess its ok. But I'm also not supposed to have a lot of soybean oil either, seeing that soybean is a legume. So that's kinda unfair to me and other people who have to avoid legumes because they're allergic peanuts.
But I'd rather have a bunch of trans fats than an anaphylactic attack... just sayin'
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