Pleasant Valley, NY – December 15, 2006– According to AP sources health officials approved a ban on artificial trans fats in the Big Apple’s thousands of restaurants December 6, making New York the nation’s first city to outlaw the ingredient linked to heart disease and other illnesses.  The ban is likely to send ripples nationwide as cities consider restrictions and large fast-food chains move away from the man-made fats, which are found in everything from French fries to doughnuts.  Carlo D’aquinni owner of local restaurant, Amore Pizzeria & Café welcomed the change. D’aquinni stated, “I made the change a few weeks ago, given the facts about the health concerns it’s something I wanted to do. It made good sense all around; we only use the freshest and healthiest ingredients we can buy”.
  
“It is very significant,” said Dr. Walter Willett, chairman of the Department of Nutrition at the Harvard University School of Public Health. New Yorkers overwhelmingly welcomed the action to get artificial trans fat out of their restaurants. “At this point we have no government regulations in our area”, said D’aquinni, “So instituting this change on our own, even though it was a little costly was the right thing to do. We didn’t want to wait till we were regulated into making this change”. D’aquinni reports an added food cost of about 25%.
 
Most artificial trans fat is in partially hydrogenated vegetable oil, which is used for baking and frying and is found in many processed foods. Those trans fats also are in margarine and some shortening.  This means New York restaurants will have to use alternatives as they serve everything from fried chicken and pies to hamburger buns and pizza dough.   D’aquinni’s menu will see changes in French fries, mozzarella sticks, onion rings, jalapeno poppers, toasted ravioli, chicken fingers, fried calamari.
 
Doctors and scientists widely agree that artificial trans fats, invented to be a healthier and longer-lasting alternative to natural animal fats such as butter, and are dangerous in almost any amount. They are viewed as unhealthier than saturated fats because they raise bad cholesterol while lowering good cholesterol. “They are far and away the biggest toxic chemical in the food supply,” Willett said, adding recent research has also linked the fats to diabetes and dementia.
 
D’aquinni’s restaurant experience has taught him that having empathy for the customer’s concerns is a key to success. “At our store we are feeding friends, family and our community the added cost is secondary to their health.”
 
To view the Amore’s healthy menu, visit www.I8AT.com/Amore.com , or call 845-635-5555. Operating hours are 11am – 10pm daily.