'The Enemy' Identified
Dr. Gerald Sotsky, a cardiologist at Valley Hospital in Ridgewood, N.J., considers trans fats the "enemy."
Banning trans fats in restaurants should reduce heart disease and heart attacks, he said.
"I don't know if we can legislate common sense, good eating habits, but it's another positive step," he said. "Fast food may still not be great, but it's better if they're not using trans fats."
State Senator Karcher, a Freehold Democrat, said her proposal to ban trans fat cooking in restaurants will protect consumers.
"We know this is a dangerous, artificial ingredient," said Karcher, vice chairman of the Senate health committee. "Somebody called it 'heart attack sauce.' Let's get it out of products at the restaurant. You're welcome to use that stuff in your house. But when we're paying for health-care costs, it's all our concern."
Her bill prompted angry, threatening phone calls, causing her to temporarily close her office and call state police to escort her staff.
"People thought I was banning their french fries," she said. "You can still eat french fries, chicken nuggets, anything else, but just prepared in a more healthful way."
The ruckus has since calmed down, she said. "I think the public, as they learn more, will say if New York is protected, why not New Jersey?" she said.
The real question is whether food will have the same taste without the sinful fat.
Difficult Switch
Restaurants are finding the switch isn't quite so easy. KFC said zero trans fat soybean oil would be used for its Extra Crispy and Original Recipe fried chicken, but it hasn't yet found a suitable substitute for its biscuits.
Kraft and some other bakers have stayed with trans fats in some products. While McDonald's has been experimenting quietly with other oils, it hasn't banned trans fats in its outlets, saying the company's priority was to meet the taste expectations of customers.
But other companies have discovered that removing trans fats can be a useful marketing tool. McCain's french fries and Gorton's fish sticks boast about being free of trans fats.
Larry Hoffman, a personal chef and "Conscious Cooking" instructor at Englewood Hospital, N.J., says french fries, chicken nuggets, chicken wings, whatever, can be cooked in something other than trans fat and still have a sinfully delicious deep-fried taste.
French fries, for example can be "twice fried" in canola, peanut or safflower oil. "All of them will give you good results," he said.
The potato slices are fried a first time at about 375 degrees, taken out and drained on paper, then fried again at about 425 degrees. This cooking-and-crisping technique is "a little involved, but better than all-in-one-step, in which the fries tend to be too done outside and too raw inside," he said. "The taste is fantastic."
Cooking without trans fats does not mean sacrificing taste, he said. Taste is subjective, and a lot of it depends on seasoning and sauces. The best bet is to use fresh oil.
"There's only so much you can fry in a batch of oil before it has a burnt quality," he said.
This story includes material from the Associated Press.
Source: The Record. Powered by Yellowbrix.
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