KFC's Trans-Fats

The latest yummy offering of KFC Philippines is a form of chicken barbecue that sells for 18 pesos a piece. I haven't tried it yet, but judging from the fastfood's long lines of customers, I think it is another KFC winner. I'll try to get you a picture later on, so you can see how it looks like.

[UPDATE: I got you a picture of the new KFC barbecues! For a more sinful and detailed close-up, go here.]

As any fastfood aficionado knows, KFC's secret lies in its thick, "finger-lickin," juicy gravy. Here in Manila, the gravy is placed on big thermo containers located strategically for easy reach of gravy-hungry KFC regulars. It is normal to see them getting the thermos, putting it as table centerpieces, and pouring the gravy in huge amounts directly to their fried chickens, to their rice, fries, mashed potatoes, and other KFC food items they ordered.

You can even say they can thrive on just the gravy. They can order just the gravy, and they can feel satisfied with it. That bad, huh? "Wrong," they'll tell you. "It's that good!" It's already an addiction. I should know. I have good friends who can testify to this. *LOL*

So I won't be surprised if no one here knows, no one here is interested in the recent news that in the US, KFC has just been sued by a consumer group because it has been cooking fried chicken for years in "partially hydrogenated oil containing trans fatty acids." The consumer group has humorously termed KFC as the "Kentucky Fried Coronary," obviously in reference to the dreadful potential it might contribute to heart attack episodes.

KFC USA calls the charge "frivolous." It couldn't be more frivolous here....I say, that kind of news isn't even news to Filipinos. As long as it is delicious, it must be good.

Also, there is no legitimate consumer group here which exists to protect and fight for consumer rights for better health or well-being. As they say around here, "masarap kumain ang Pilipino." Period. I'm sorry to foreign readers if I can't quite capture the exact meaning of that phrase in English, but it roughly says that Filipinos love to eat. Their eyes and tongues cannot discern the difference between good fat and bad fat. The argument is always --- is it delicious or not?

Has anyone inspected the kind of cooking oil fastfoods use here? Probably. As a part of a routine health and sanitary inspection required for all eating establishments, but I haven't heard of a local drive to have it analyzed or changed to a healthier alternative. In medical conferences I attend to, doctors talk about how certain fats harm the body over time, but no local medical organization has really taken a substantial step for effective prevention, like say, asking the local fastfoods to disclose important nutritional info about their products, and what can be done about them should they be qualified to contain harmful ingredients.

If there's a will, there's a way. To date, Denmark is a country that has banned trans-fats. Wendy's has trimmed its trans fat content weeks ago, too. In Europe, Canada (significant efforts!), and the US, as we can see, they are making noise about it. Here, most people don't care unless they have been hospitalized already. Here, it's a fragmented effort to be healthy. People wait to have a brush with death before they reform their lifestyles. Why does it have to be that way?

But for the few who care about their health, trans-fats are fats that you don't want in your diet. It is responsible for those "love-handles" and the big belly you have been trying to get rid of, for a long time. In fact, a new study says that if you want a bigger belly, eat more trans fats.

If you want a detailed discussion on trans-fats, click here.
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