Is Amherst going trans fat free?
by JESSICA L. FINCH Associate Editor

Statistics have shown that Western New York has one of the highest rate of heart disease in the country.

What's to blame? Mostly obesity and eating habits.

Amherst resident and board-certified health counselor Jordana Geist wants the Town of Amherst to take a healthy step forward, to fight heart disease and diabetes by requiring town restaurants to remove trans fat from their menu.

"The main culprit in this bleak scenario is the quantity and quality of the American diet," she said during the suspension of rules at Monday's Town Board meeting. "And that is an area where you, as board members, can make a dramatic difference by banning trans fats in the food served in restaurants and schools."

Geist said she has been researching the topic and found that replacing trans fat can be an easy step for restaurants. According to the New York City Health Department, nearly 95 percent of the city's 17,000 restaurants have eliminated trans fat.

"It's not a big deal to substitute oils. The question is, why aren't we doing it," she said.

Trans fat is an artificial product from partially hydrogenated oil. The process adds hydrogen to an oil to make it more solid. Because it does not occur naturally, humans can't handle a lot of the oil, she said.

According to U.S. dietary guidelines, people should eat less than 2 grams of trans fat a day but on average consume 5.6 grams.

Foods with high levels of trans fat include french fries, microwave popcorn and doughnuts that are cooked in, or with, oils with high trans fat.

Geist said the solution is as simple as switching oils, which Dunkin' Donuts recently announced it has done. Locally, Geist spoke with the Anchor Bar, which also made the switch to a better quality oil.

"You wouldn't use a cheaper engine oil if you knew it would shorten the life of your car, so why put that kind of oil into your body?" she said.

Geist submitted a petition signed by 450 Amherst residents. She said she gathered the signatures in less than a week.

She said the concept of legislation being passed to ban trans fat is not new and has been done in larger cities, including Philadelphia.

The Town Board can't comment during the suspension of rules, but Geist said she did speak with Council Member Dan Ward, who seemed in favor of supporting the motion.