The EU wants you to get fat

[Gangerolf]

I just heard something interesting.

According to some new research, in the US, a Chicken MacNugget meal at McDonalds contains 11% trans fat. In the UK it's 9% and in Sweden 5%.

In Denmark it's only 2%. Because they have legal restrictions on the amount of trans fat in food. Don't ask me what trans fat is, but it's supposedly very bad for you. Instead, they use saturated fat, which isn't as bad, but is a bit more expensive to produce.

Now, the EU Commission is challenging the Danish restricton, claiming it is a hinder to free trade.

Is that evil or what

[Ogie Oglethorpe]

Once again teh EU trying despeartely to be like Amurikans.

[Dauphin]

Odd, considering a recent TV program I saw was saying that some MPs in the UK were lobbying for a reduction in the use of trans fat in foods. Precisely for the health reasons.

[BlackCat]

Yep, that is quite evil, but not as evil as the fact that our evil extreme rightwing government are going to figth against EU on this matter.

They are messing up every good stereotype of an evil rightwing goverment - you just can't trust those damn politicians

[Footie Mad]

Trans fat are the worst imaginable, anything but minor amounts of saturated fats are bad, now maybe we'll get a wawe of people eating those "healthy" McNuggets and dieing next year.

BTW, that episode where Homer makes a customized movie for Lisa and says her favourite food is McNuggets and that the bad guys have stolen all the McNuggets. That's funny, the way he says it.

[Gangerolf]

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060413/NEWS07/604130506/1009&template=printart

More fat with that? Fast foods vary

BY LINDA A. JOHNSON
ASSOCIATED PRESS

April 13, 2006

Order fries or hot wings at a McDonald's or a KFC in the United States and you're more likely to get a super-sized helping of artery-clogging trans fats than you would be at their restaurants in some other countries.

A study of the fast-food chains' products around the world found remarkably wide variations in trans fat content from country to country, from city to city within the same nation, and from restaurant to restaurant in the same city.

The researchers said the differences had to do with the type of frying oil used, and the main culprit appeared to be partially hydrogenated vegetable oil, which is high in trans fats.

McDonald's Corp., which promised in September 2002 to cut trans fat in half, and KFC parent Yum! Brands Inc. said the explanation is local taste preferences. But nutrition experts and consumer activists said it is about money: Frying oil high in trans fats costs less.

The Danish researchers tested products from the chains' outlets in dozens of countries in 2004 and 2005, analyzing McDonald's chicken nuggets, KFC hot wings, and the two chains' french fries. The findings are reported in today's New England Journal of Medicine.

At a New York City McDonald's, a large fries-and-chicken-nuggets combo had 10.2 grams of the trans fat, compared with 0.33 grams in Denmark and about 3 grams in Spain, Russia and the Czech Republic.

At KFCs in Poland and Hungary, a large hot wings-and-fries order had 19 grams of trans fats or more, versus 5.5 grams for wings and fried potato wedges in New York. But in Germany, Russia, Denmark and Aberdeen, Scotland, the meal had less than a gram.

Harvard School of Public Health cardiologist Dr. Dariush Mozaffarian and colleagues wrote in the journal that although it may be hard for restaurants and food manufacturers to eliminate partially hydrogenated oil, other countries have replaced it with unsaturated fats without raising costs or reducing quality.

Doing so might prevent thousands of heart attacks and strokes each year in the United States, they wrote.

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[Gangerolf]

Originally posted by Dauphin
Odd, considering a recent TV program I saw was saying that some MPs in the UK were lobbying for a reduction in the use of trans fat in foods. Precisely for the health reasons.

Odd, and evil.

...

Ironically, despite mounting concerns over rising levels of obesity worldwide, the
European Union has urged Denmark to withdraw its anti-fat legislation, arguing that it presents a trade barrier.

"It's shameful of the EU," Stender told AFP, noting that the EU was far behind not just Denmark but also the United States and Canada which require food producers to provide information about fat levels on packaging labels.

Danish officials have said they will fight to keep the law.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060413/lf_afp/denmarkushealth_060413144920

[Jon Miller]

anything that is partially hydrogenated is terrible for you

JM

[Ted Striker]

This smells of corporate lobbying on the behalf of McDonald's.

Someone with money and a silver tongue got to someone on the EU Comission board.

As for Trans Fat, it is probably the worst possible thing in food products today. Hardens the arteries like nothing else will.

[Fake Boris]

I'm not surprised... I noticed that Canadian McDonalds don't taste the same as the American ones.

[Datajack Franit]

I have no pity for those idiots eating McShyt

[JimmyCracksCorn]

Originally posted by Oncle Boris
I'm not surprised... I noticed that Canadian McDonalds don't taste the same as the American ones.

Canadian McDonalds taste greasier.

And I'm not saying thats a bad thing, I think the food tastes better.

[VetLegion]

I agree with EU. If that fat is not killing anyone, and in moderate quantities it is not, then why ban it? It should be left to the consumers to decide whether they like it or not.