Kitchen slackers beware!
Pillsbury cookies, DiGiorno frozen pizza and Bisquick pancake mix could soon be outlawed if the FDA moves to ban food with trans fat.
The proposal, announced on Thursday, would phase out dozens of products, including microwave popcorn, ramen noodles and pre-packaged brownies — irking New Yorkers who say they simply enjoy eating junk food from time to time.
“The FDA should stay off my plate! We grew up on Pillsbury ready-bake cookies. Now I eat them two or three times a month with my kids,” said Claudio Santana, 40, of the Bronx.
Judy Rodriguez, 37, who was shopping for groceries in at C-town in Harlem, said eating easy-bake pancakes shouldn’t be treated like a crime.
“You’ve gotta be kidding me. [Bisquick] would be banned — because of one gram of trans fat? This is ridiculous,” she said.
She added, “First it was large sodas, now it’s frozen pizza and popcorn.”
Restaurants are already forbidden to use trans fat in New York City, so grocery stores and bodega shoppers are impacted the most.
The FDA’s proposal is open to public comment for 60 days. There is no set time-line for the ban, a spokeswoman for the agency said.
Trans fat, which is widely considered the most dangerous type of fat, clogs arteries and causes heart disease.
But Dr. Joe Schwarcz, who specializes in debunking heath myths, said it has earned an unfair stigma.
“Trans fats are made out to be a great villain — but they are probably perceived as worse than they are,” Schwarcz told The Post.
He said people should be more concerned with their overall diet.
“If you eat a bag of potato chips with trans fat, it’s not going to kill you, it’s not arsenic. It’s your overall intake you need to look at,” he said, adding trans fat in moderation is fine.
Products such as Oreos and Top Ramen have already reduced trans fats to zero grams per serving. But eliminating trans fats changes the flavor of the food, can drive up manufacturing costs and make the snack’s shelf-life shorter.
A representative for the FDA said the agency’s top concern is safety.
“One of the FDA’s core regulatory functions is ensuring that food, including all substances added to food, is safe,” said Michael Taylor, and FDA commissioner, said in a statement.