Dear Editor of the Globe and Mail

Thank you for expending many ounces of ink and yards of space to the health
threat of trans-fats in our diet.  Unfortunately for your readers -- and
the reputation of the Globe and Mail -- the evidence for this new "public
health threat" is nil. I would direct your attention to the website "Fear
of margarine: The trans fat myth"
http://www.junkscience.com/nov99/transfat.htm that points out the following
regarding the only study -- the Nurses study -- that showed a relationship
between trans fats and health:

"It reports no statistically significant association between total fat
intake and risk of coronary heart disease.
It reports no statistically significant association between animal fat
intake and risk of coronary heart disease.
It reports no statistically significant association between saturated fat
intake and risk of coronary heart disease.
It reports no statistically significant association between cholesterol
intake and risk of coronary heart disease.

"The reported association between trans fat and coronary heart disease is
only statistically significant for the highest consumption of trans fats --
but it's still a very weak statistical association.  This study basically
reports that all we've been told about the association between fat
consumption and heart disease is not supported by data collected from
90,000 nurses over a period of 20 years. So either the study data is wrong
or the public health establishment has been wrong about fat consumption
being associated with heart disease risk. If the study data is wrong, then
I doubt the trans fat result. If the public health establishment is wrong
then why should we believe it about trans fat when it has been generally
wrong about fat consumption for the last two or three decades? "

I would add that the Nurses sample is unrepresentative of the general
population as their heart disease rate was exceptionally low.
Additionally, numerous other studies have showed NO RELATIONSHIP between
transfat intake and heart disease.


Dennis Raphael, PhD
Associate Professor and Undergraduate Program Director
School of Health Policy and Management
Atkinson Faculty of Liberal and Professional Studies
York University
4700 Keele Street
Toronto, Ontario M3J 1P3
tel: 416-736-2100, ext. 22134
fax: 416-736-5227
email: [log in to unmask]
website: http://quartz.atkinson.yorku.ca/QuickPlace/draphael/Main.nsf/

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