There are some people who take great comfort in the global ubiquity and consistency of fast food. Whether it's a McDonald's in Brussels or a KFC in Bangkok, knowing that the menu choices will taste the same as a location in Boise, Idaho or St. Louis, Missouri is somehow reassuring. But things are not always as they seem - or taste.

A study of McDonald's and KFCs around the world has found significant differences in the trans fat content of certain food items from country to country, city to city in the same nation, and from restaurant to restaurant in the same city.

Danish researchers tested McDonald's chicken nuggets, KFC's hot wings, and French fries from both in outlets around the world. The primary issue is the type of oil that each restaurant uses - with partially hydrogenated vegetable oil being the worst.

In a New York City McDonald's, a large fries-and-chicken-nuggets combo was found to have 10.2 grams of partially hydrogenated oil, compared with 0.33 grams in Denmark and about three grams in Spain, Russia, and the Czech Republic.

In Poland and Hungry, a large order of KFC's hot wings-and-fries had 19 grams of trans fat while New York City was light with just 5.5 grams for wings and fried potato wedges. KFC fans in Germany, Russia, Denmark and Aberdeen, Scotland, can find the same meal with less than a gram of the dangerous fat.

Both McDonald's and KFC attribute the use of partially hydrogenated oil to taste preferences, but scientists aren't buying it, as this type of fat is also extremely cheap to use.

"I was very surprised to see a difference in trans fatty acids in these uniform products," said Dr. Steen Stender, a cardiologist at Gentofte University Hospital in Hellerup, Denmark, former head of the Danish Nutrition Council and one of the authors of the study. "It's such an easy risk factor to remove."

[AP via Houston Chronicle]

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