- New York City and nearby counties enacted a law banning trans fats in 2007
- A new study shows those regions have seen a 6% drop in heart attacks, strokes
- Next year, the FDA has ordered all counties across the US to follow suit
Mia De Graaf For Dailymail.com
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New York’s ban on artery-clogging trans fats in restaurant foods has led to fewer heart attacks and strokes, a new study shows.
The city brought in the rule in 2007, and several counties across the state followed suit.
Now, before-and-after data show hospital admissions for heart attacks and strokes have declined 6 percent compared with counties without bans.
That translates to 43 fewer heart attacks and strokes per 100,000 people, according to the Yale University study.
The researchers held up the figures as an indication of the health benefits we will see across the US when the mandatory ban takes effect nationwide in 2018.
Southern fried chicken using a soy bean oil that doesn’t contain trans fats in New York’s Harlem neighborhood. A study released today suggests restrictions on heart-damaging fats in restaurant food may have helped prevent heart attacks in several New York counties
Trans fatty acids, or trans fats, are commonly found in foods such as chips, crackers, fried foods, and baked goods.
Minimal amounts of trans fat intake are linked to greater risk of cardiovascular disease, the leading cause of death worldwide.
To study the impact of restricting trans fats, Dr. Eric Brandt and his co-authors compared outcomes for people living in New York counties with and without the restrictions.
The researchers examined hospital admissions data from 2002 to 2013 in 11 New York counties that adopted bans and in 25 counties that did not.
Admissions for heart attacks and strokes declined in all counties, going from more than 800 to less than 700 per 100,000 people, but the drop was steeper in counties that enacted bans.
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The decline for the combined conditions was 6.2 percent.
Alice Lichtenstein, a heart and nutrition specialist at Tufts University’s Boston campus, said the results are encouraging but that other changes could have contributed, such as smoking bans and mandatory calories on menus.
Dr. Mark Creager, former American Heart Association president, said the results echo previous studies ‘and are consistent with the thinking of most scientists’ on potential benefits of these bans.
‘Policies such as these when adapted on a nationwide level will be good for our entire population,’ said Creager, director of Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center’s heart center in Lebanon, New Hampshire.
‘It is a pretty substantial decline,’ said lead author Brandt, a clinical fellow in cardiovascular medicine at Yale School of Medicine.
‘Our study highlights the power of public policy to impact the cardiovascular health of a population.
‘Trans fats are deleterious for cardiovascular health, and minimizing or eliminating them from the diet can substantially reduce rates of heart attack and stroke.’
The study results point to the possibility of much more widespread benefit as the FDA’s measure — which restricts trans fats in all food — are due to take effect in 2018, said Brandt.
‘Even though some companies have reduced the amount of trans fat in food, current FDA labeling guidelines allow up to 0.49 grams of trans fat per serving to be labeled as 0 grams, leaving consumers to scour labels for hidden trans fats, usually labeled as partially hydrogenated oils,’ he said.
‘With the upcoming FDA regulation, people need not be so vigilant. A nationwide trans fat ban is a win for the millions of people at risk for cardiovascular disease.’
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