When you think of New York thoughts of fantastic shopping, great sightseeing, and top-rated restaurants definitely comes to mind. New York is also known for its greasy fare that’s served in huge portion sizes. In a recent attempt to improve the nutritional level of the foods served in New York restaurants, the New York City health department has urged that all New York restaurants stop preparing foods with trans fats.

It’s quite apparent that chefs don’t care about the nutritional value of our meals. Their goal is to create great-tasting meals that are visually appealing. So when New York City’s health department made a proposal to ban all trans fats in restaurants, many restaurants criticized the idea saying it would cause a huge cost strain on the industry.

Many restaurants use trans fats in the preparation of foods as they are a cheap to use, increase the stability of the food, and taste good. But this cheap ingredient is certainly putting a huge dent on American’s health care costs. Heart disease is currently the number one killer of North Americans. Reducing the amount of trans fats in the diet can help to eliminate the risk factors.

Trans fats are found in vegetable oils which are used to prepare a lot of breaded and fried foods and baked goods. A trans fat is produced when liquid oil is converted to solid fat during a process called hydrogenation. These are synthetic fats that have no nutritional value and can actually be harmful to the body. They can raise the levels of LDL cholesterol (bad cholesterol) and decrease the level of HDL cholesterol (good cholesterol) in the blood which increases the risk of coronary heart disease.

You may have noticed many baked goods such as cookies and cakes and chips lately are labeled as trans fat free. A food item can be classified as trans fat free if it contains less than 0.5 grams of trans fats per serving. While this is a step in the right direction, you should still moderate the amount of these food choices you consume. These products still contain a lot of extra sugars and saturated fats which should be limited in the diet.

According to the American Heart Association, your daily intake of trans fats and saturated fats should be kept as low as possible. But they reported that the average American consumes about 5.8 grams of trans fat a day.

When major food companies such as KFC are starting to get on board and eliminating trans fats from their menu items, you know that this must be a major issue. Kentucky Fried Chicken previously stated they weren’t going to change their secret recipe which has remained the same for the past 50 years, but recently decided to make the switch and eliminate trans fats. This doesn’t mean that KFC is now considered a healthy meal option, but they are taking one step in the right direction.

In a nation where almost 64% of all Americans are considered overweight and 27% are obese it’s about time that health authorities have attempted to step up and take action. The next step is to reduce the portion sizes of meals served in restaurants.