Kansas City Food Blog

​In an effort to improve the nutritional value of french fries and other fast-food items, several major cities have instituted bans on artificial trans fats in restaurants.

New York City led the way in 2006, passing a ban on all artificial trans fats in food served in restaurants as health officials cited the connection between trans fats and heart disease. The ban was instituted in stages to allow time for compliance and has been in effect since November of 2008. Today, 13 jurisdictions, including the state of California, have similar bans in place.

While the health benefits are believed to be clear, the question of whether this has altered the taste of food hasn't been widely considered.

Since the ban, New York health officials have found that trans fats are only used in 2 percent of baking, frying and cooking -- as opposed to 50 percent before the ban. Dr. Lynn Silver, assistant commissioner of the New York City Public Health Department's Bureau of Chronic Disease Prevention and Control, told Forbes in a recent article that the change hasn't had a big impact on diners' tastes:

"It became clear that trans fats were being successfully replaced, and no one noticed the difference. Foods tasted just as good and diners are healthier."

In a weird test of that hypothesis, Consumer Reports published a taste comparison of trans-fat-free french fries from three major fast food chains -- Burger King, McDonald's, and Wendy's -- in the August 2009 issue. It makes you wonder if it was a slow day for dishwashers or riding lawnmowers.

The fries tasted the same as they used to, according to a pair of Consumer Reports' testers -- which raises the questions of whether their palates are particularly sensitive or if they had samples with and without trans-fat? We won't spoil the results, but two offerings were considered very good, while one was just good. We'll keep you updated when CR begins to examine warranties on burgers.

[Image via Flickr: jetheriot]