SFist aims to please. Which is why when our readers send in suggestions (and flatter us with compliments) we are more than happy to follow up. Reader Arvin Panganiban wrote to point out the web site Ban Trans Fat. We went looking for a local angle and came up with all sorts of delicious (trans fat free) material for our readers.

For starters, Stephen L. Joseph, who runs the site, is the Marin-based lawyer who sued Kraft foods over their use of trans fat in Oreos - which prompted Kraft to announce they were reducing or eliminating the trans fat in their Oreo cookies and Goldfish crackers (which are heavily marketed to children, the group most at risk from a diet high in trans fats). He has also sued McDonald's for false advertising in response to their unfulfilled promises to change the oil in their deep fryers from saturated trans fats to unsaturated vegetable oil.

Trans Fats, or partially hydrogenated vegetable oils, are created by steaming vegetable oils at high pressure to change the molecular character of the fatty acids which make up vegetable oil. This is done to extend the shelf life of vegetable oils as well as make them solidify at room temperature. You probably have some Crisco or margarine somewhere in the house - these are both partially hydrogenated vegetable oils. Trans-fats were invented by Hippolyte Mège Mouriés in 1869, who answered the challenge posed by Napoleon III to create a shortening and spread that could last over long sea voyages.

Now, however, leading research institutions have begun to publish study after study showing that trans fats are in fact the most dangerous of fats to your health - more dangerous than even the saturated fats found in butter and lard. Of course we've all known for years that they sure aren't as tasty!

Even here in the home of the natural food movement we found some heavy trans fat users. Pleasanton's Safeway uses trans fats in many of their store-brand baked goods. Oakland's Mothers Cake & Cookie and Dreyers Ice Cream both use trans fats in their products as well. And finally, San Francisco icon Golden Grain (now owned by Quaker Oats), makers of Rice a Roni and Pasta Roni, use trans fats in most of their varieties of Rice a Roni and Pasta Roni. Good neighbor companies include Kikkoman USA, Del Monte and Parisian of San Francisco and Clif Bar of Berkeley - none of whom use trans fats in any of their products.

So check your labels for anything that reads "partially hydrogenated" or "vegetable shortening" in the list of ingredients. And ask at the counter of your favorite diner or fast food establishment what kind of oil they're using in the deep fryer. If you're baking or frying at home, consider substituting coconut oil for shortening in recipes - you can purchase it at any Trader Joes. Or consider going back to leaf lard, which can be purchased at almost any Mexican butcher or grocery. SFist is so happy to be going back to the rich flavors of saturated fats, but would like to remind everyone that too much of any fat is a bad thing - any and all fats in your diet should be consumed in moderation.