The last holdout for trans fat in fast food?
“Long John Silver’s Big Catch meal deserves to be buried 20,000 leagues under the sea,” said Michael F. Jacobson of the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI).
Laboratory tests show that the Big Catch (fried fish, hushpuppies [cornbread ball for those living outside the south] and onion rings) has “an astonishing 33 grams of trans fat — the most powerful promoter of heart disease in the food supply,” says CSPI.
CSPI formally notified the Long John Silver chain that it will be sued if it continues to use partially hydrogenated oil in its deep fryers.
The bottom line?
Making its fried foods virtually trans-fat free should be easy to do, since by law, Long John Silver’s outlets in California and certain other jurisdictions must limit artificial trans fat to half a gram per serving. CSPI researchers telephoned multiple Long John Silver’s restaurants in California, and all of them said they used canola oil in their deep-fryers, and not the partially hydrogenated soybean oil used in much of the rest of the country.
New York City made trans fats illegal in processed and restaurant foods in 2008. Subsequent analysis showed that the food has become healthier.
One more thing for Mr. Jacobson of CSPI. A “league” is a measure of length (approximately 3 miles) not depth. Although the point is well taken.
7/3/13 20:25 JR
