News

That quick hit of greasy food to ease the New Year's Day hangover will come with an unexpected bonus in Calgary as the city becomes the first in Canada to regulate use of artery-clogging trans fats served in restaurants.

As of Tuesday, city eateries will not be allowed to cook with fats and oils that have more than 2-per-cent trans fats in total fat content. The same rule applies to all margarines and margarine-based spreads served in those outlets.

Brent Friesen, the medical officer of health with the Calgary Health Region, said while there is “no safe level of consumption” of trans fat, there are still restaurants in the city that serve food such as hash browns that have trans-fat content as high as 42 per cent.

“That is an unacceptable health risk,” Dr. Friesen told reporters, noting that cutting consumption of trans fats can help reduce the incidence of heart disease by 6 to 22 per cent, depending on what it is replaced with.

Trans fat is found naturally in low levels in some animal-based foods, but it is also generated when liquid oils are turned into semi-solid fats such as margarine and shortening used in cooking and baking.

It is one of the so-called bad fats, which have been linked to obesity, clogged arteries and troublesome cholesterol levels – hiking the bad type in the body while lowering the good kind.

But food producers and restaurants have also fallen in love with trans fats because they are cheaper than the healthier alternatives, and they give a preferred taste and texture to a host of foods.

Chicken on the Way, which will celebrate 50 years as a fast-food institution in Calgary in 2008, proudly went trans-fat-free last spring. The family-owned eatery, famous locally for its deep-fried chicken and corn fritters, tried three types of cooking oils – one left a bad taste and another was too greasy – before settling on a canola-corn combination.

“We had a customer that was coming in, like seriously, every day,” recalled manager Myrna Derowin, “We let him eat it for a week and then we said ‘So, what do you think of the chicken?' and he didn't notice any difference.”

But the downside to the switch was a 20-per-cent higher price tag than the old-fashioned trans-fat-laden vegetable shortening, Ms. Derowin added.

The Calgary Health Region surveyed 400 food permit holders in the city and found the majority had already swapped the bad oils for better ones and two-thirds were using spreads that were in line with the new rules.

New York City has gone even further and was the first jurisdiction in the United States to implement an outright ban on trans fats from its restaurants. It recently found 94-per-cent compliance.

Rules similar to those in Calgary are eventually going to be rolled out across Canada.

In 2006, a federal task force recommended that trans fats should amount to no more than 5 per cent of total fat content in all foods, including restaurant meals. Ottawa suggested a 2-per-cent limit on edible oils and spreadable margarines.

This year, Ottawa asked food producers to cut trans-fat levels in their products to meet those guidelines, adding the industry would be forced to do so by the summer of 2009 in any event.

Calgary had hoped to bring in the 5-per-cent rule for food sold in grocery stores on Jan. 1, 2009, but the health region delayed the initiative six months to give shop owners more time to find and place acceptable products on their shelves.

The Canadian Council of Grocery Distributors has expressed concern that some may not be able to comply right away since trans fat is a common ingredient in many processed foods. The Canadian Restaurant and Foodservices Association has also issued reservations.

“The [Calgary] plan unnecessarily duplicates efforts that are under way at the federal level, ignores most of the food supply chain, and sets unrealistic timelines,” the association said in a statement.

Public health inspectors in Calgary won't be issuing violations right away and instead plan to educate restaurateurs about the new policy. After that first warning, however, owners could lose their food permits if they don't comply.