A little over a month since New York City's trans fat ban went into effect restaurants have been quickly figuring out how to deal with the new requirements, some better then others. Specifically, it seems that some fast food restaurants are having trouble getting their food into shape. To prove this, a new study from the Center for Science in the Public Interest released yesterday found that Burger King and Wendy's are still serving french fries chock full of trans fat:
In mid-July, CSPI purchased large orders of fries from five different McDonald’s, Burger King, and Wendy’s outlets in Manhattan and had an independent laboratory analyze them. McDonald’s had the least trans fat (0.2 grams per serving). Wendy’s had 3.7 grams per serving, and Burger King had 3.3 grams per serving (though Wendy’s serving size was 25-percent larger than Burger King’s).
While shady, those numbers are still actually legal. According to the law, restaurants are required to use oil containing less than .5 grams of trans fats but are free to sell food with much more. That loophole closes July 1st, 2008, when restaurants must begin to guarantee food with less than .5 grams of trans fat per serving.
To learn more about trans fats and the city's new guidelines, visit www.notransfatnyc.org.