(CBS) CHICAGO Some fast food chains are doing more than super-sizing their portions. They’re super-sizing the fat.
Researchers found that where you eat can be just as risky to your health as what you eat.
Unhealthy fast food fat is highest in the United States because Americans prefer food with more taste, companies say.
CBS 2’s Mike Parker explains why that’s dangerous.
If you’re concerned about your health, you might want to think twice about those fries. A Danish study comparing the fats in McDonald’s fries in the United States with the fries in Europe finds the U.S. products much higher in artery-clogging trans fat.
Some diners are getting the message.
“Who wants a heart attack? I mean, health is first,” one man said.
The study says eating just 5 grams of trans fat a day increases your risk of a heart attack by 25 percent.
Says a Danish cardiologist: “It’s a metabolic poison.”
“Trans fat, let me just say, has been associated with raising bad cholesterol and lowering the good cholesterol,” registered dietician Roberta Clarke Jenero said.
The study finds that KFC chicken is also high in trans fat. KFC says it bows to taste and uses the same partially-hydrogenated vegetable oil that McDonald’s used to cook domestic fries.
“Everytime I get my kids a happy meal, they never eat the fries. I don’t know why,” said one father.
Maybe the kids are on to something.
Trans fat is not only in fries and chicken, but tortilla chips, margarine and microwave popcorn.