Burger King, a renowned hamburger chain famous for its flame-broiled burgers, has said it will use trans-fat-free cooking oil for all its food preparations particularly for its French fries and many of its chicken products by the end of 2008 in all its outlets in the US. A step has already been taken in this direction with Burger King already having started the use of trans-fat-free cooking oil in many hundreds of it outlets throughout the US. This move one could say was prompted by a lawsuit filed against the Burger King by Center for Science in the Public Interest, Washington for having delayed complete removal of unhealthy oil for cooking from all of its outlets.
What are trans-fats? Trans-fats are a class of unsaturated fatty acids that have fatty acids with the trans-configuration. In this configuration, the hydrogen atoms linked to carbon atoms that are doubly bonded are on opposite sides of each other. This gives them a structure quite similar to that of the saturated fatty acids.
A natural source of these trans-fats were the milk and body fat of ruminants. But with the development of the techniques of hydrogenation of unsaturated fats, many unsaturated plant fats were converted into partially hydrogenated fat or trans-fats. These trans-fats are particularly desirable for preparation of fast foods, baked item, snacks and fried foods owing to their higher melting point, reduced rate of oxidation and rancidity that results in their longer shelf life. These artificially prepared trans-fats present more health risks than their naturally occurring counterparts.
Why is it so important to keep trans-fats out of the diet? These fats are not essential for our body. Moreover, they are responsible for increasing the levels of bad cholesterol and reducing the levels of good cholesterol and this is said to increase the risk of coronary heart disease. Other health problems associated with trans-fat consumption are diabetes, infertility, liver dysfunction and obesity.
Two trans-fat-free oil blends have already been tested and passed by the Burger King Corp. in Miami. If sufficient amounts of this oil become obtainable then Burger King will reach its goal of trans-fat-free cooking in all its outlets in the US before its set deadline of end of 2008.
