Say goodbye to trans fat

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Coffeehouse giant Starbucks and fast food restaurant A&W are the latest to announce plans to cut artery-clogging trans fats from their menus. Starting Wednesday, Starbucks stores in Seattle, San Francisco, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Diego, Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., and Portland Ore., will begin offering baked goods with no trans fats. The company expects to make a complete switchover in the United States within two years. Starbucks Canada has also confirmed it plans to eliminate trans fats in baked goods in company-owned stores in the second half of 2007. "A sign will be posted in the pastry case to indicate this conversion once it is complete," the company said in a statement. Similarly, A&W announced Wednesday that it's rolling out a new menu, offering customers items that have no or low levels of trans fats. The restaurant has eliminated trans fats from its french fries, hash browns and some of its sandwiches. Onion rings, chicken strips and breakfast sandwiches have reduced levels of trans fats. "In response to our customers' evolving food and lifestyle interests, and after intensive research and testing, A&W is proud to offer menu items with significantly reduced trans fats while still providing the same great taste and quality our customers expect," Paul Hollands, the president and CEO of A&W Canada, said in a statement. In June 2006, Health Canada and the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada chaired a joint task force on the issue of trans fat. The task force noted that 22 per cent of the average person's trans fat intake is provided by foods consumed away from home, usually in fast-food restaurants. In December 2006, New York became the first American city to ban artificial trans fats at its restaurants. Restaurants must eliminate trans fats from their food by July 2008.