But it's not."She said she had lobbied her local branch of Marks & Spencer, only to be greeted with a "blank face" by the manager. Almost nobody she knows had heard of trans fat until she told them about it.Research into the exact health effects of trans fat is still preliminary and uncertain. In the United States, the Food and Drug Administration has estimated that better labelling on food products could prevent between 7,600 and 17,100 cases of coronary heart disease each year and between 2,500 and 5,600 deaths.Kraft has made no comment on his lawsuit. They have until early June to file a formal response, at which point the judge will decide whether the case has sufficient merit to move forward to trial.FAST-FOOD LEGAL BATTLESMonths ago, a federal judge in New York threw out a lawsuit that blamed McDonald's hamburger chain for obesity, diabetes and other health problems in adults and children.A lawyer claimed that a 123kg (20 stone) man did not know that food at McDonald's, Wendy's, Kentucky Fried Chicken and Burger King could be unhealthy.But the judge said the plaintiffs did not demonstrate McDonald's products "involve a danger that is not within the common knowledge of consumers". The lawyer has filed an amended lawsuit accusing McDonald's of deceptive advertising. In 2001, students from George Washington University filed a lawsuit against McDonald's Corp accusing them of failing to disclose that French fries were prepared with beef fat.

McDonald's settled by agreeing to pay $10m (£6.2m) to groups representing vegetarians, Hindus and Sikhs and organisations promoting Jewish dietary laws and children's welfare issues.Stella Liebeck, 79, won $480,000 (£300,000) for third-degree burns after she spilt a cup of coffee in her lap in New Mexico in 1994. Evidence at the trial showed McDonald's knew of 700 other burns cases.. A play inspired by Morecambe and Wise joined Eddie Izzard in the British charge on Broadway last night when the nominations for the Tonys were announced. The play is a homage to the comedy duo, and features a celebrity in a cameo performance each night.Izzard was shortlisted for best leading man for his role in A Day in the Death of Joe Egg.

He faces another British actor, Brian Bedford, nominated for the Moli? play Tartuffe.British women also fared well. Vanessa Redgrave was nominated for her role in a revival of Eugene O'Neill's Long Day's Journey Into Night. She faces competition from Fiona Shaw, recognised for Medea, for the best leading actress award.Hairspray, the musical of the 1988 John Waters film, received 13 nominations. The sell-out stage version of the camp film set in Baltimore led the field ahead of Movin' Out. Twyla Tharp's dance-based tribute to Billy Joel, featuring the singer's music, was nominated for 10 awards.Vincent in Brixton, which transferred to Broadway this winter from London, was nominated for best play, as was Take Me Out. The gay-themed play, centred on the world of baseball, became one of the season's unexpected hits.Baz Luhrmann, the Australian director of films such as Moulin Rouge, was celebrating six nominations for his staging of Puccini's La Boh? He was nominated as best director of a musical. Paul Newman, who appeared last winter on Broadway in a brief revival of Our Town by Thornton Wilder, was nominated for best actor.The Tony awards will be presented at the Radio City Music Hall on 8 June..

The American official newly charged with the task of rebuilding Iraq flew into Baghdad yesterday on a mission to end the chaos, install a new government, and stop the intense feuding between Washington departments that has paralysed the reconstruction effort. He was appointed by President George Bush last week as the senior administrator, replacing Jay Garner, the retired US Army general who heads the US-led Office of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance (ORHA).Fierce rivalry over control between Donald Rumsfeld's Defence Department and the State Department, under Colin Powell, has crippled the operations of the ORHA. General Garner is expected to leave by the end of the month.Frustration has been steadily growing on the streets of Baghdad over the failure of the Americans to end the looting and general lawlessness, and their slow progress in restoring services and jobs."The politicking has been absolutely appalling," one disgruntled official said. "You constantly see people pacing around with their Thurayas [mobile satellite phones] using the back channels in Washington to undermine the oper- ation here."The US Defence Department and its generals say they fought and won the war, so they have been keen to continue dictating events in Baghdad, where they still have tanks on the streets. The civilian reconstruction team, however, says the militaristic approach is heavy-handed and counter-productive to building confidence and forging ties with Iraqis.The State Department believes it is better equipped to handle the complex task of building a government. The choice of Mr Bremer, a prot? of Henry Kissinger and, significantly, a counter-terrorism expert, appears to be a victory for the latter.Though tough and at times bombastic, he is generally respected for his grasp of the intricacies of Iraqi politics and is thought to be better versed in this area than General Garner.