First Do No Harm

The Center for Science in the Public Interest released test results from foods served in hospitals to critically ill patients. The finding? High levels of trans-fats!

To have a valid measure and comparison, the team used the standard 6-ounce portion as the serving size and tested the french fries served in 20 hospitals. All twenty institutions' fare contained trans-fats.

• Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania have the most trans fat -5.3 grams/serving
• University of Michigan Medical Center - 4.9g/serving
• UCLA Medical Center - 4.6g/serving
• Children's National Medical Center in Washington, DC - 4.1 grams/serving
• St. Louis Children's Hospital -3.9g/serving
• Children's Medical Center Dallas - 2.0g/serving

CSPI says that hospitals should know better than to use partially hydrogenated oil.

"Deep-fried foods probably shouldn't be served in hospitals in the first place, but foods high in trans fat should certainly be excluded," said Carlos Camargo, Associate Professor of Medicine and Epidemiology at Harvard Medical School, and a physician who practices at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.