Canadians eating out at popular fast food joints are unknowingly eating large doses of trans fats, according to alarming results from a study commissioned by CTV and The Globe and Mail.

Results of the study were released as the operator of KFC was sued in an effort to force the fast food chain to stop cooking with the artery-clogging fats.

The research found that animals fed with foods with trans fats gained more weight than those fed with foods not cooked with trans fats.

Furthermore, the excess weight was deposited around the abdomen in what scientists described as "dramatic levels."

While store-bought and packaged foods are required to label trans fat levels in Canada, restaurants and fast food chains are not under the same obligation.

Indeed, trans fats continue to be widely used in takeout food, CTV and The Globe and Mail found when they commissioned a study of four popular fast food chains in Toronto and Vancouver.

"People aren't being protected from high trans levels in restaurant or fast foods ... and I think that's still an ongoing problem and a big one in this country," University of Guelph Professor and nutritional scientist Bruce Holub told CTV News.

As of December 2005, Canada required trans fats to be listed among food ingredients. But it hasn't gone as far as Denmark, which adopted legislation that limits trans fats to a tiny number, essentially amounting to a ban.

Trans fats, which are formed when liquid oils are made into semi-solid fats like shortening and hard margarine, are used in processed foods such as crackers, cookies and fast foods to enhance taste and extend shelf life.

But health experts suggest minimizing the consumption of trans fat, as research shows it raises LDL, or "bad" cholesterol, while lowering HDL, the "good" cholesterol.

Studies also show that consuming just five grams of trans fats a day over many years boosts the risk of heart disease by 25 per cent.

The CTV and Globe and Mail study found that KFC's deep-fried chicken pieces (known as Popcorn Chicken) and fries meals had the highest levels of trans fats at a whopping 18.6 grams -- a level that if eaten daily may boost your risk of heart disease by nearly 100 per cent.

Burger King's Chicken Tenders and fries meal wasn't far behind at 13 grams of trans fats.

Wendy's Crispy Chicken Nuggets and fries had 5.5 grams of trans fats -- at a level that if consumed daily, increases your risk of heart disease by 25 per cent.

The lowest levels of trans fats were measured in McDonald's Chicken McNuggets and fries meal at 1.8 grams.

"Why is one company able to put out a very low trans product and the competition can not or chooses not to? In other words, it is doable, and because it's doable they should all be doing it," Holub said.

Reaction

KFC, which had the highest recorded levels of trans fat, declined comment on the study. Officials at Burger King didn't respond to calls from CTV.

Burger chain Wendy's said the company is planning to reduce trans fat levels by switching to a non-hydrogenated oil that will be used in its 6,300 restaurants in the U.S. and Canada in August.

The new blend of corn and soy oil will reduce trans fat to zero grams for Wendy's chicken sandwiches, Crispy Chicken Nuggets and Homestyle Chicken Strips.

As for McDonald's, the company said in a written statement to CTV that its ultimate objective is to find a safe, sustainable oil solution.

"To that end, we are continuing to work with our suppliers to develop new cooking oils that decrease combined levels of both saturated and trans fats, an approach widely acknowledged by health officials worldwide as optimal," the statement said.

The fast food chain said that it has already "virtually eliminated" trans fat levels in products such as McChicken and Filet-O-Fish because they've switched to new formulations of cooking oils that decrease levels of trans fats.

Consumers may even be surprised to know trans fats can be found in many take-out muffins and cookies, including some Tim Horton's Timbits.

"I was surprised to find so many foods in Canada with such high levels of trans," Dr. Steen Stender of the University of Copenhagen told CTV News from Denmark.

The best way to protect consumers from this harmful fat is to eliminate its use, as they have in Denmark, the cardiologist said.

"It took two years and now we don't have problems with trans fats. And so we know whether we buy foods in restaurants or buy it packaged, we don't have to care about trans fats," Sender said.

A federal task force report is expected to issue recommendations in the coming days on whether trans fats should be banned in Canada.

U.S. lawsuit

Meanwhile, south of the border, the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) issued a court challenge to KFC in an effort to stop the fast-food chain from frying foods in trans fat.

In a class-action suit filed against Yum! Brands, Inc. in the Superior Court for the District of Columbia, it is claimed that "the amount of trans fat in KFC food items is significant."

The class-action suit seeks to warn customers about the potential health hazard.

KFC "does not properly warn, disclose or even tell customers that they are eating food items prepared with the worst oil available . . . " said the group in a legal complaint.

The group asked the court to order KFC to stop using trans fat, or in the alternative, the group asked the court to "ensure that (District of Columbia) consumers are warned . . . that the KFC food is prepared with trans fat products."

Although a decision against KFC in the lawsuit would only be binding in the District of Columbia, CSPI hopes it would encourage the chain to change its practices nationwide.

Kentucky-based Yum! Brands, Inc. also operates the Pizza Hut and Taco Bell fast-food chains.

KFC called the lawsuit frivolous and without merit. Spokesperson Laurie Schalow said the company provided trans fat values and other nutrition details on its website and in restaurants, and that all KFC products were safe to eat.

But the CSPI said the company is putting its consumers' health at risk.

"Grilled, baked, or roasted chicken is a healthy food-and even fried chicken can be trans-fat-free," said CSPI executive director Michael F. Jacobson in a written statement.

"But coated in breading and fried in partially hydrogenated oil, this otherwise healthy food becomes something that can quite literally take years off your life.

With files from CTV's medical specialist Avis Favaro, medical unit producer Elizabeth St. Philip, and additional research provided by Jessica Iaboni