New Yorkers Are Having Fewer Heart Attacks, Thanks To Trans-Fat Ban

As of June 2015, the Food and Drug Administration began the three-year-long phase-out of the dangerous (but wildly popular) ingredient known as artificial trans-fats. Trans-fats — aka partially hydrogenated fats — are most commonly found in processed foods and fast foods and are linked to heart disease. New York City was about eight years ahead of the rest of the country when the city banned trans-fats in 2006.

A new study from Yale University published in JAMA Cardiology shows that the ban has had immediate effects on the city's citizens. Since the law's implementation in 2008, there has been a six percent decrease in hospitalizations and strokes, or about 43 fewer heart attacks and strokes per 100,000 people.

"Policies such as these when adapted on a nationwide level will be good for our entire population," Dr. Mark Creager, former American Heart Association president told CBS News.

Unfortunately for the environment, however, one common replacement for trans-fats is palm oil, which has been linked to environmental damage due to the clearing of tropical forests for palm plantations.