Trans Fat...Where do you stand?

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Originally Posted by jotay

Gee that hasn't stopped them from banning all tobacco products or booze, and look at the health problems they cause?

Lead paint,DDT harmed others around it not just the person using it.
I don' think if I am sitting next to you eating trans fat that the fumes would affect your health.
That's the anger in my point. Why just trans fat when there re SO many other things much more harmful to the person using it and the people around it .

I agree the money used to ban it should be used to educate so then people can make THEIR own informed choice.
As far as saving people from heart problems again what about booze and tobacco

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The difference is that booze and tobacco are consumed actively instead of passively. They're not saying to ban fat because it's unhealthy, it's trans fats which have only been around for about 40 years or so. Butter, vegetable oil, and saturated vegetable oils are all great alternatives, but being that they may be more expensive or have a shorter shelf life, many manufacturers decided to use trans fats.

I agree that if someone wanted to buy a big bucket of trans fats and chow down, then go for it. But when it is used in so many food in an unsuspecting society that thrives on cheap, inexpensive, fast food... I think it will ultimately benefit everyone monetarily and health-wise.

I think a lot of people get hung up on the name "tran fats" more than anything. If they started calling it "Carcinogenic Substance T", most people would ask "Heck, why didn't the government ban that years ago?"

Sure, in the supermarket, there are a few choices. Not many, and believe me, I pay high dollar to get healthy foods to cook at home.
But what about restaurants? Not just fast food, but regular places? Do you honestly think they will change their ways because they care? They won't.
And from what I've seen, the trans-fat ban is working out quite well in other countries.

And for those bringing up banning alcohol....that was tried before. Even so, I don't see a comparison there. Drinking and smoking are for pleasure only, no one's life depends on consuming those products.

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Originally Posted by SarahMB

And for those bringing up banning alcohol....that was tried before. Even so, I don't see a comparison there. Drinking and smoking are for pleasure only, no one's life depends on consuming those products.

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Tell that to the addict. :)

And my life and pleasure depends on my greasy, fat, fast food ! :)

They make regular and fat free food just like calorie and no calorie or low calorie food. Why can't they do it w/ trans fat.

My beef is just that I don't think the gov't. needs to get involved and ban it.
I go for the " if you give them an inch they will take a mile" theory.
Today trans fat, what will it be tomorrow??

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Originally Posted by jotay

And my life and pleasure depends on my greasy, fat, fast food ! :)

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Don't worry, they won't take it away. They'll even be able to make it greasier and fattier with LARD! :chew:

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Originally Posted by jotay

Why can't they do it w/ trans fat.

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That's the problem....they can, easily. They won't, due to the cost of making the actual change. We have other laws to protect our health, this would just be one more that wouldn't change your daily life in any way.

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Originally Posted by jotay

My beef is just that I don't think the gov't. needs to get involved and ban it.
I go for the " if you give them an inch they will take a mile" theory.
Today trans fat, what will it be tomorrow??

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Believe me, I know where you are coming from. My husband is a hardcore Libertarian, and I do agree with most of their platform. However, I don't support corperations being in control of our health due to money concerns.
I know, it really sounds like I'm in complete support of the ban, and on the surface I probably am. But I know I haven't heard all sides, and I am interested in more factual information.

I definitely do not think it's impossible to eat (mostly) trans-fat free now if one is careful about reading labels and purchasing whole foods. The trans-fats are added in processing. So buying whole foods (meat, vegetables, starches, etc) is a good choice, as is buying "light" versions of processed foods (some healthier brands are being more trans-fat concious).

Restaurants are another story, and I'm not saying that it's realistic to expect to avoid ALL trans-fats. What I am saying is that it's possible to avoid them for the most part, if people are willing to read the labels are be more concious about it.

And really, the more concious the American public is about how bad Trans-Fats are, you can bet if they start buying alternatives from one brand or another, the big-name brands will follow suit with their own alternatives. Remember the "Carb" craze? It happened then.

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Originally Posted by AzureN1ght

And really, the more concious the American public is about how bad Trans-Fats are, you can bet if they start buying alternatives from one brand or another, the big-name brands will follow suit with their own alternatives. Remember the "Carb" craze? It happened then.

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Kim, I think you make some excellent points.
My question is, how many people bought low-carb products for their children? And how many made themselves a grilled chicken salad and picked up Happy Meals for the kids?

The flipside to that is...I'd hate to have a knee-jerk "think of the children" reaction, haha.

Sarah, I guess that's really at the discretion of the parents at that point. I'm not even saying low-carb was a good craze, as I don't believe carbs are "unhealthy" as long as they're fiberfull carbs :)

I still think that awareness in the public = action by the companies. McDonalds was recently in the news (as was Wendy's), for changing over to trans-fat free frying oil. That doesn't mean that eating there is particularly -healthy- anyway in most cases, but those two big chains made the choice to become "frontrunners" in the fast food industry as far as Trans-Fats go. And I'm sure that's due to pressure from thier consumers.

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Originally Posted by SarahMB

Kim, I think you make some excellent points.
My question is, how many people bought low-carb products for their children? And how many made themselves a grilled chicken salad and picked up Happy Meals for the kids?

The flipside to that is...I'd hate to have a knee-jerk "think of the children" reaction, haha.

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Originally Posted by AzureN1ght

Sarah, I guess that's really at the discretion of the parents at that point.

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But should it be? We don't get to choose that our children have rotten teeth, should we get the option of clogging their arteries before they can make informed decisions?

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Originally Posted by AzureN1ght

I still think that awareness in the public = action by the companies. McDonalds was recently in the news (as was Wendy's), for changing over to trans-fat free frying oil. That doesn't mean that eating there is particularly -healthy- anyway in most cases, but those two big chains made the choice to become "frontrunners" in the fast food industry as far as Trans-Fats go. And I'm sure that's due to pressure from thier consumers.

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My husband agrees with you on this, and I think it's a great argument. What I think will happen is that some will start offering token trans-fat free choices until the issue blows over, and still concentrate on what will make them the most money. Much like the fruit bowls that were all the rage last summer, and then either vanished or started adding sugar encrusted walnuts.

I'm still confused on the entire issue :D

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Originally Posted by AzureN1ght

Sarah, I guess that's really at the discretion of the parents at that point. I'm not even saying low-carb was a good craze, as I don't believe carbs are "unhealthy" as long as they're fiberfull carbs :)

I still think that awareness in the public = action by the companies. McDonalds was recently in the news (as was Wendy's), for changing over to trans-fat free frying oil. That doesn't mean that eating there is particularly -healthy- anyway in most cases, but those two big chains made the choice to become "frontrunners" in the fast food industry as far as Trans-Fats go. And I'm sure that's due to pressure from thier consumers.

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Good point.....but it was also from legislative pressure from state and local governments. And that trans-fat labels wouldnt probably be there with out governmental pressure and research as well.