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Later this year, the federal government is expected to remove dietary cholesterol from its list of bad foods. The expert panel that advises the government on these guidelines concluded there's no reason to be concerned about "overconsumption." In other words, all those federal warnings stretching over the past four decades about how eating eggs and other cholesterol-rich food would clog your arteries were wrong. Now the federal government could be making the same mistake with trans-fat.

By setting several new precedents, the FDA's decision on trans fats may bring some of our most beloved ingredients -- salt and sugar -- under new scrutiny by the agency, they predicted

Progressive liberals just can't help themselves. They're so wise and all-knowing that us common peasants need them to come down from their elated heights to make decisions for us. The nanny state mentality is one that is a core component of the progressive liberal psyche, and while they cloak it with talk of good intentions, it's all about controlling every aspect of your life. Sadly, the nanny state is going national. I never worried about Nanny Bloomberg's crazy edicts as I don't live in New York City, but his trans fat madness is now being picked up by the FDA....

(AP) FDA to ban artery-clogging trans fats By MARY CLARE JALONICK Associated Press WASHINGTON Heart-clogging trans fats have been slowly disappearing from grocery aisles and restaurant menus in the last decade. Now, the Food and Drug Administration is finishing the job. The FDA announced Thursday it will require the food industry to gradually phase out artificial trans fats, saying they are a threat to people's health. Commissioner Margaret Hamburg said the move could prevent 20,000 heart attacks and 7,000 deaths each year.

(CNN) -- The Food and Drug Administration on Thursday took a step toward potentially eliminating trans fats from the food supply with a preliminary determination they are no longer "generally recognized as safe."

Since the city banned trans fats in restaurant food in 2008, diners have consumed 2.4 fewer grams of trans fats per lunch, which should mean better health, researchers say. A New York regulation that took effect in 2008 prohibits all restaurants… (Kathy Willens / Associated…)New York City's pioneering ban on all but the smallest amounts of trans fats in restaurant food has led to a significant reduction in consumption, a change that should translate into better cardiovascular health in the nation's largest city, according to a new report. It also demonstrates that coffee shops, fast-food joints and other eateries can...

Edmonton, Alberta, Canada Sept. 7, 2011: Not all trans fats are created equal and it's time for a change in nutrition labels in North America to reflect this, particularly when it comes to dairy and beef products. According to a scientific review published in the latest edition of Advances in Nutrition, natural trans fats produced by ruminant animals such as dairy and beef cattle are not detrimental to health and in fact show significant positive health effects. Some evidence even links these natural trans fats to reduced risk of cardiovascular disease and cancer. "The body of evidence clearly points to...

Well that didn’t take long. Yesterday, in a post discussing a New York Times op-ed that called for heavy taxation on “unhealthy” foods, I asked, “How long before some starry-eyed but angry-faced Democrat proposes legislation to force ‘healthy food’ advertising?” Now The Daily Caller reports that food producers could face government regulations requiring “healthy” composition profiles for foods marketed to children two to seventeen years old.If enacted, new regulatory criteria will reclassify many foods which the FDA presently considers healthy as off limits for advertising to children. In the present formulations, eighty-eight of the top 100 most-consumed foods will be...

BALTIMORE -- The Baltimore City Health Department issued its first environmental citation for repeat violations of the city's trans fat ban. The Health Department issued Healthy Choice, a food facility in the 400 block of Lexington Street, a $100 fine on Thursday. "It was the second time they were found with a high trans fat level in their ingredients," said Health Department agent Juan Gutierrez. Officials said that during inspections in July and this month, the facility was found to be using a margarine product with trans fat levels in excess of what the law allows. The law banning food...

The Food and Drug Administration quietly decided last week that food manufacturers can safely use a trans fat in their recipes. I can almost hear some of you asking: How can that be? Doesn’t everyone know by now that such fats constitute a health hazard? In the past decade or so, the nutrition-research community has effectively driven home the message that trans fats are bad. As bad as — if not worse than — saturated fats, at least in terms of health. Communities around the nation have begun responding with proposals for local bans on the use in restaurant fare...

California will be the first state to ban trans fats in restaurants and bakeries under legislation signed today by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. The measure requires restaurants to quit using trans fats by January 2010, and for bakeries to follow suit one year later. "Consuming trans fat is linked to coronary heart disease, and today we are taking a strong step toward creating a healthier future for California," Schwarzenegger said in a written statement. The legislation, Assembly Bill 97, was proposed by Democratic Assemblyman Tony Mendoza of Artesia and opposed by most Republicans. Trans fats, also known as trans fatty acids,...

Does Dunkin’ Donuts really think its customers could mistake Rachael Ray for a terrorist sympathizer? The Canton-based company has abruptly canceled an ad in which the domestic diva wears a scarf that looks like a keffiyeh, a traditional headdress worn by Arab men. more stories like this Some observers, including ultra-conservative Fox News commentator Michelle Malkin, were so incensed by the ad that there was even talk of a Dunkin’ Donuts boycott. ‘‘The keffiyeh, for the clueless, is the traditional scarf of Arab men that has come to symbolize murderous Palestinian jihad,’’ Malkin yowls in her syndicated column. ‘‘Popularized by...

BOSTON — Dunkin' Donuts, the food-on-the-go chain whose name celebrates a treat that's symbolic of unhealthy eating, is trying to refresh its image by largely eliminating trans fat across its menu, Homer Simpson be damned. Dunkin' planned to announce today that it has developed an alternative cooking oil and reformulated more than 50 menu items — doughnuts included. The Canton, Mass.-based chain says its menu will be "zero grams trans fat" by Oct. 15 across its 5,400 U.S. restaurants in 34 states. About 400 locations nationwide that took part in a four-month test already have made the switch to a...

Despite objections from restaurant owners and food-industry officials, the King County Board of Health on Thursday banned artificial trans fat and required nutrition labeling for menu items in chain restaurants. With the vote, King County joins a handful of jurisdictions in the country to ban artificial trans fats in restaurant meals and becomes only the second to require nutrition labeling on menus. While most restaurant owners and their supporters testified against the trans-fat ban -- most said they're already getting rid of trans fats but they simply hate mandates -- they saved their harshest words for the nutrition-labeling requirement. Chris...

NEW YORK - No more trans fats with those french fries? No problem. The city's ballyhooed ban on trans fat cooking oils in all New York restaurants — an idea that gave chefs indigestion when first proposed — seems to be going surprisingly smoothly. Across the city, most fast food chains say they've already made the switch days before the July 1 deadline, which is Sunday. The same cannot be said for a second restaurant rule taking effect then: the posting of calories on fast-food menus. The major chains are defying that regulation and hope a lawsuit will overturn it....

WASHINGTON, May 16 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- By using partially hydrogenated oil, Burger King is knowingly increasing its customers' risk of heart disease and early death, according to a lawsuit filed today by the nonprofit Center for Science in the Public Interest. CSPI is asking a District of Columbia Superior Court judge to order the restaurant chain to stop using the deadly trans-fat-laden ingredient, or at least to require prominent warning notices on Burger King's menu boards. According to CSPI, Burger King is the biggest restaurant chain that is not fully committed to getting rid of the artificial trans fat found in...

Judge Throws Out CSPI-Inspired Lawsuit May 4, 2007 On Wednesday the Center for the Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) received yet another legal smackdown from the judicial establishment, as Federal Judge James Robertson dismissed a CSPI-inspired lawsuit against KFC. Last year, CSPI's Dr. Arthur Hoyte sued the popular chicken chain for failing "to disclose the presence of trans fat in its food." Hoyte has feigned shock all along that KFC's deep-fried offerings are prepared in a popular frying oil. Ultimately, though, that stunning lack of common sense didn't figure in Judge Robertson's decision. As the judge sarcatically wrote: [I]t...

High consumption of trans fat, found mainly in partially hydrogenated vegetable oils and widely used by the food industry, has been linked to an increased risk of coronary heart disease (CHD). New York and Philadelphia have passed measures eliminating its use in restaurants, and other cities are considering similar bans. A new study from the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) provides the strongest association to date between trans fat and heart disease. It found that women in the U.S. with the highest levels of trans fat in their blood had three times the risk of CHD as those with...

Legislators in Sacramento are pushing four new laws that would mandate California restaurant chains and grocery stores to reveal nutrition information immediately and ban all trans fats by 2009. Legislators believe they are fighting the obesity epidemic, but they are also expanding a government that is already overweight. The current obsession with obesity is driven by studies, such as the recent report by the nonprofit California Center for Public Health Advocacy, which found that California has an average of 4.18 times as many fast-food restaurants and convenience stores as supermarkets and produce vendors. San Bernardino County was found to have...

SACRAMENTO, (AP) -- California may be joining the health crusade against trans fats, the artery-clogging substances that can mean longer shelf life for food but shorter life spans for humans. Bills scheduled for hearings this week in the state Assembly would ban the use of artificially created trans fats in food prepared in California's restaurants, grocery stores and schools. "Trans fats kill people," said Assemblyman Tony Mendoza, D-Artesia. "They're a major cause of heart disease and diabetes. They have no nutritional value. Why have them?" Mendoza is the author of a bill that would phase out the use of oils,...