Even cooking schools are phasing trans fats out of their diets
Published 10:08 pm Saturday, January 26, 2008
PROVIDENCE, R.I. — The movement to ban artery-clogging trans fats from food has a new venue: cooking schools.
The places that train those who will someday feed the rest of us are cutting back or eliminating artificial trans fats from their classrooms, saying they have a responsibility to teach students how to cook healthy foods.
“It’s a very welcome change,” said John O’Connell, 19, a sophomore culinary arts student at Johnson &Wales University in Providence, one of the nation’s largest cooking schools.
The school has started phasing out trans fats in its restaurants, hotels and dining services on four campuses around the country, and plans to be trans fat-free by the fall semester.
“We have made sure that we do the right thing,” said Karl J. Guggenmos, dean of culinary education.
Other cooking schools, such as Le Cordon Bleu Schools North America, with 13 locations, are looking at reducing or eliminating trans fats, said Kirk T. Bachmann of Le Cordon Bleu, which is based in Hoffman Estates, Ill. The prestigious Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, N.Y., banned trans fats from nearly all its classes and restaurants in 2005.
Artificial trans fats are often found in oils used to deep-fry foods such as french fries, and also in baked goods. Bakers like to use shortenings with trans fats because cakes stay fresher longer, frosting is easier to use and they cost less than butter.
Trans fats are created when hydrogen is added to liquid cooking oils to harden them. Along with saturated fats, they raise levels of so-called bad cholesterol, increasing the risk of heart disease.
New York City banned cooking oils with trans fat from all restaurants last year, and several states and cities have debated similar measures. Several fast-food chains are also switching to trans fat-free cooking oils.
