Local restaurants leave trans fats behind

Since January of last year, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has required all packaged foods containing trans fats to label how much of the cholesterol-ruining ingredient is used in the foods' cooking.

But the same rules don't apply to restaurants. New York City took a step to combat that, banning trans fats in restaurant foods by next July. That started a wave of local regulations about the heart-damaging fats. Montgomery County as well as Philadelphia followed suit.

Though no anti-trans fat ordinance is applied in College Park, restaurants have heeded concerns about trans fats and begun switching over to healthier oils.

Liora Dahan, owner of Pita Plus, is leading a silent movement away from trans fats. Her restaurant uses "totally canola fat, and canola oil - completely," Dahan said.

The only trans fats at Pita Plus are in products from outside vendors, a common issue.

"I wouldn't say 100 percent not trans fats," she said about her menu. "97 percent because we have products from outside companies." She's even taking steps to crack down on that loophole - making salad dressing in-house.

Trans fats are created during the hydrogenation process of vegetable oil. As late as 2003, any product labeled "shortening" contained trans fats, according to the FDA. This is no longer true, yet the information remains on the official FDA website.

Studies by the Institute of Medicine and National Academies of Science, among others, were cited in the FDA's decision to require trans fats on labels. The studies recommend "trans fatty acid consumption be as low as possible while consuming a nutritionally adequate diet," because it raises bad cholesterol and increases the eater's risk of coronary heart disease.

At Applebee's, manager Lindon Theodile is glad to show off the boxes of trans fat-free Applebee's-brand creamy shortening he keeps in the kitchen. Butter, which contains trace levels of trans fats like some natural products, is also used in the kitchen.

Theodile said the new shortening burns at a lower temperature. Kitchen workers clean and filter it twice a day, he said.

Wontons and egg rolls dive into bubbling creamy liquid shortening at Panda, too. Cook Quiang Zheng is fine with the trans fat-free formulation he uses. "This is the best one for fried food," he said.

Marathon Deli uses a liquid vegetable shortening for their french fries that contains no trans fats.

Yet students and visiting eaters interviewed for this story were apathetic about what their golden-brown goodies were cooked in.

"If I'm eating fries I don't really care," Tyler Sines, a senior mechanical engineering major.

Contact reporter Theodore J. Sawchuck at newsdesk@dbk.umd.edu.