Trans fats have been headlining the national news. Here in New England, Newick's Seafood Restaurants have been cooking in trans fat-free oil since 2004. "We were the first restaurant in New Hampshire or Maine to cook fried foods in a newly developed canola oil containing 0 grams of trans fats," explains Newick's owner Jack Newick. "This oil is free of all the trans fats created through the hydrogenation process and has the lowest level of saturated fat of any vegetable oil."

  The development of this new cooking oil actually began a few years ago when researchers at Cargill Specialty Canola Oils, in both Canada and the United States, began development of a next generation cooking oil, free of trans fat, for use in food manufacturing. Teaming up with the Harvard University School of Public Health and Dr. Walter Willett (author of Eat, Drink And Be Healthy), Cargill developed canola oils with no hydrogenation or chemical enhancement. The oils are absorbed less into food, unlike traditional cooking oils, so the food tastes better and the food is lighter in color.

  Trans fats have been linked to heart disease. Cargill's primary interest is in marketing this new oil to the commercial food manufacturing industry to meet the challenge of eliminating trans fat and reducing saturated fat from the cooking process. Special arrangements to utilize the oil were made with Newick's because of the large volume of fried foods they serve. Newick's has been cooking all their fried foods in their three seafood restaurants since 2004.

  "A regular diet of certain seafoods has long been proven to be heart healthy. Salmon and other types of fish are virtually the only source of significant amounts of vital Omega-3 fatty acids which promote cardiovascular health. But since most people prefer fried seafood to the healthier broiled, the benefits were offset by the trans fats traditionally in the cooking oils. We're very pleased to be able to use trans fat-free oil to cook all of our fried foods, including french fries."