The Nannies Of New York, Part Three

The Opinion Journal has taken note of the move by the New York City Health Department to ban trans fats. They point to the conflicting data – one might call it junk science –  that the advocates of the ban are using. And they also note one screaming bit of hypocrisy going on in the background of all this hoopla.

You wouldn't know it from the media coverage, but the science on the dangers of trans fats is still being debated, which helps explain FDA approval of the ingredient. It also explains why the American Heart Association, while no fan of trans fats, was critical of the New York proposal and fears it may backfire if food outlets revert to even less healthy alternatives.

The food nannies insist that trans fats raise cholesterol and cause heart disease. The problem, says Steven Milloy of the Competitive Enterprise Institute, is that the studies purporting to show this link are inconclusive at best. "People cite lab studies that show transient changes in blood lipids when people consume trans fats, but that's a long way from heart attacks and heart disease," says Mr. Milloy.

Walter Willett of the Harvard School of Public Health is one of the nation's leading trans fat alarmists. Earlier this year he co-authored an article in the New England Journal of Medicine that said trans fats "appear to increase the risk of coronary heart disease more than any other macroingredient." As evidence the article cited three studies. One showed a statistically insignificant correlation between trans fats and heart disease when other risk factors are considered. The other two studies found a link between very high consumption of trans fats and heart trouble, but statistically the association was weak.

Before other cities decide to regulate diets absent a safety issue, they might also consider that some of the same people now pushing for a trans fat ban once recommended the ingredient as a substitute for another health scare: saturated fats. Twenty years ago, Mr. Jacobson's CSPI launched a public relations blitz against fast food joints for using palm oil to cook fries. The group claimed victory when restaurants started using partially hydrogenated oil instead. In 1988, a CSPI newsletter declared that "the charges against trans fat just don't hold up. And by extension, hydrogenated oils seem relatively innocent." Today, Mr. Jacobson is claiming trans fats kill 30,000 people a year. We wonder if he feels guilty.

I've noted earlier the insanity of local bans for Federally approved foods. You're looking at the possibility of greatly increased costs across the board as companies struggle to comply with conflicting rules from municipalities all across the country. But as the O-J points out, there appears to be a more litigious reason for some of this. Will trans fats be the next asbestos cash cow for the hungry lawyers? Probably. They're always looking for the next big score.