Fast food is less fatty abroad, study says

TRENTON, N.J. -- Ordering french fries or hot wings at a McDonald's or a KFC in the United States is more likely to result in a supersized helping of artery- clogging trans-fatty acids than at their restaurants in some other countries, according to a study published today in The New England Journal of Medicine.

Researchers said the differences had to do with the type of frying oil used, and the main culprit appeared to be partially hydrogenated vegetable oil.

At a McDonald's in New York, a large meal of fries and chicken nuggets was found to contain 10.2 grams of trans-fatty acids, compared with 0.33 grams in Denmark and 3 grams in Spain. At KFC operations in Poland and Hungary, a large hot-wings-and-fries order had 19 grams of trans fats or more, compared with 5.5 grams for wings and fried potato wedges in New York.

But in Germany, Russia, and Denmark, the same meal had less than 1 gram.