Nerdy Science Blog

New York City became the first city that bans trans fats at restaurants.

NEW YORK (AP) — New York on Tuesday became the first city in the nation to ban artery-clogging artificial trans fats at restaurants, leading the charge to limit consumption of an ingredient linked to heart disease and used in everything from french fries to pizza dough to pancake mix.

What is a trans fat? It is an unsaturated fat that is made by adding hydrogen to vegetable oil. So what can trans fats do to you?

1. higer risk of heart disease
2. deplete good cholesterol (HDL)

Since trans fats are bad for us, why do the manufacturers put them in so many food products? It’s all about money because trans fats increase the shelf life of the food products such as crackers. So the more you eat, the more they earn and the poorer you are as you are getting fatter.

Heavy people do not spend more than normal-size people on food itself, but their life insurance premiums are two to four times as large. They can expect higher medical expenses, and they tend to make less money and accumulate less wealth in their shortened lifetimes. They can have a harder time being hired and, once on the job, a harder time winning plum assignments and promotions.

So who are in troubles now? The fast food restaurants!