trans-fat just a fad issue?
Gosh, could the food police be armed with bad science? Heaven forfend!
I’m not sure if this is a mixed metaphor, but Harvard and the mayor of New York have gone logrolling in the trans-fat cascade.
The Harvard School of Public Health announced that it’s giving its highest honor, the Julius B. Richmond Award, to Mayor Michael Bloomberg for demonstrating “extraordinary leadership in protecting and promoting the health of New York City’s residents.”
How much good Mr. Bloomberg has done for New Yorkers’ health is debatable. But there’s no question he’s been good for the Harvard School of Public Health by promoting the trans-fat notions of its researchers, notably Walter Willett, the epidemiologist who has been the leading critic of trans fat. Last year, as part of the successful campaign to banish trans fat from restaurants, Dr. Willett appeared a “Trans Fat Free NYC” rally outside the New York City Department of Health.
Dr. Willett’s views, though, are less popular with scientists than with activists, as my colleague Gina Kolata reported in article contrasting the trans-fat “panic du jour” with the conclusions of the National Academy of Sciences and other groups of experts. These experts concluded that trans fats haven’t been proven to be significantly worse than saturated fats.