JEAN ORTIZ/Lincoln Journal Star | Posted: Saturday, February 2, 2008 6:00 pm
Just cheese sauce and cookies stand in the way of what Steve Leising has in mind.
The owner of Taco Inn, a Lincoln fixture since 1976, has spent the last two years checking off each item on his menu in his quest to strip it of trans fat.
As the nation has shifted its nutritional attention to the man-made fats, with major chains like McDonalds, Burger King, Taco Bell and KFC leading the charge, it has drawn the attention of small-business owners like Leising and many others around Lincoln.
But one Lincoln nutrition scientist says this trend is not about good health. It’s about business, plain and simple.
It’s not like Taco Inn hasn’t seen change before. In the late 1970s its refried beans went from being made with lard to vegetable oil in an effort to appeal to the college crowd, many of whom sought out vegetarian options, Leising said.
This, however, is much bigger.
Some of it came easily, as manufacturers came out with trans fat-free products, whether because they were forced to comply with new public policy elsewhere in the country or merely to keep pace with perception.
Leising has had to log some phone time as well working with suppliers to check off the rest of his menu.
Assuming no one has fibbed along the way, he is now down to just two products that he knows have trans fat in them.
It’s no secret, trans fats have gotten quite a bad rap lately. Found in such items as cookies, chips, and of course, french fries, trans fats have been linked to heart disease.
That’s no good, say many factions, including some public policy makers — spawning trans fat-free cities, and maybe soon, if California lawmakers go for it, a trans-fat free state.
That level of control hasn’t quite overtaken Nebraska, but many restaurants have or are contemplating changes regarding trans fat.
The National Restaurant Association has supported voluntary elimination of trans fat in restaurant fare, though the group wants to ensure the process allows time for research to verify the proper products are coming in as replacements, said Jim Partington, executive director of the Nebraska Restaurant Association.
“They don’t want to jump into something that may or may not be worse than we have now,” he said.
The association doesn’t track restaurants’ efforts related to trans fat elimination, but Partington knows there has been plenty of movement in the state.
What he doesn’t know is how common it is for a restaurant to make efforts to offer a completely-trans fat free menu.
Chuck Cantrell, with Dougherty Brokerage Co. — the local representative for Ventura Foods in Nebraska, which he said touches nearly all restaurants in the state — said it’s something he regards as uncommon.
“He’s actually made an effort to completely eliminate trans fats from his menu, which is almost unheard of,” Cantrell said, speaking of Leising.
This is no fad diet frenzy, Cantrell stresses.
“It’s not a flash in the pan. It’s not a trend. It’s not going away,” he said. “They’ve clearly found that trans fats are bad.”
It’s also no cheap endeavor, whether for manufacturers as they reformulate their products, or for restaurant owners like Leising who pay a premium to use them.
Leising said he has yet to see any higher costs passed on to him from manufacturers related strictly to the trans fat-free conversion, but he expects that day could come eventually.
The public is certainly on edge with regard to trans fat, said Tim Carr, professor of nutritional biochemistry at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
“There’s certainly been a perception created that trans fatty acids are somehow uniquely sinister,” he said, adding the idea has been promoted by “seemingly credible scientists.”
Sparking greater discussion and awareness about diet can be beneficial, but the focus on trans fats is too narrow, he said.
It’s such a small part of the greater fat intake, said Carr, who said he’d like to see consumers look at their diet and lifestyles in their entirety if they really want to make a shift toward good health.
“I believe it’s a mistake to focus on a single food or a single ingredient as somehow being a cure-all or a poison pill,” he said.
Ultimately he believes it’s a waste of time and money to reformulate recipes to satisfy a single ingredient. He regards the move by restaurants to eliminate trans fats as more of a business strategy than one rooted in good health.
It’s become an economic decision because of the panic over trans fat that has ensued, he said. Manufacturers and restaurants are simply responding to that demand.
Leising doesn’t want to be mistaken, he knows eliminating trans fat won’t fix everything. He knows there are still other bad fats. Trans fat was just the easiest one to eliminate, he said.
So he’ll forge on in his mission, optimistic about finding an alternative cheese sauce in the next year. Cookies may take a bit longer.
And once he’s done, he knows even then it’s no cure-all — just a step in the right direction.
“There’s little things I can do, but I can’t solve the world’s problems,” he said.
Reach Jean Ortiz at 473-7107 or jortiz@journalstar.com.