Guess Again, Tubby!

The smoking ban is difficult enough to police, but trans fats are even tougher, with many restauranteurs even (apparently) unaware that they are breaking the law:

Under the new law, restaurants were supposed to switch to cooking oils or spreads that contains less than 0.5 grams of trans fat per serving by this month.

But a survey of several popular city eateries — from swanky bistros to late-night diners — found shocking levels of trans fats in some dishes.

A Post reporter visited 12 restaurants in three boroughs and asked for a side of fries — only to discover that five contained the dangerous fat.

Just one of the guilty chow houses — Moonstruck Diner on West 23rd in Chelsea — ‘fessed up to having trans fat.

“We haven’t made the switch,” said an employee to a Post reporter posing as a customer.

Servers at the other four places said their food was trans fat-free — but the lab reports differ.

One worker at the Blue Water Grill in Union Square scoffed when asked if its fries contained the unhealthy fat, and insisted, “No, that’s illegal.”

But 2.2 grams of the heart-damaging oil was found in the hot spot’s 260.5-gram side of fries, according to a test conducted by Alliance Technologies in New Jersey.

Astoria Diner clocked in with the most trans fat in its side of fries, with 2.9 grams in one 317-gram serving, the lab results show.

. . .

Meanwhile, most of the eateries that failed the fat test disputed the findings.

Jimmy Polimenakos, whose family owns Uncle George’s, insisted that he used soybean oil that was labeled zero trans fat.

“Obviously I need to go to my supplier and trace the root of this,” he said.

The owner of the Astoria Diner also said he used trans fat-free oil.

“Impossible,” he said.

Chris Giarrapugo, the executive chef at B.R. Guest, the parent company of Blue Water Grill, vowed to conduct his own tests.

“Clearly there’s a discrepancy in what the manufacturer and what the lab says,” he said.