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Menu labeling, trans fat ban approved by the Board of Health (King County, Washington State)
King County Public Health ^ | July 19, 2007

Posted on 07/20/2007 1:27:17 PM PDT by Stoat

Menu labeling, trans fat ban approved by the Board of Health
Thursday, July 19, 2007
KING COUNTY, WASHINGTON - People will be able to make more informed food choices and have a safer food supply as the result of today’s action by the King County Board of Health to require menu labeling in King County chain restaurants and to eliminate artificial trans fat in all King County restaurants. Board of Health members expressed strong support for the decision that will improve the dining experience and the health of the community in the fight against obesity and chronic diseases such as diabetes and heart disease.

“The Board of Health is responsible for passing laws to protect the health of the public, and to promote healthy behaviors that improve health and prevent illness,” said King County Councilmember and Board of Health Chair Julia Patterson. “There is no better example of our commitment to residents’ health than the legislation passed today that protects us from dangerous trans fats and promotes consumer education and informed choices by labeling menus.”

“With the menu labeling requirement, the Board has taken a significant step today to enable us to make more informed choices about the food we eat,” said Dr. David Fleming, Director and Health Officer for Public Health – Seattle & King County. “And, the elimination of artificial trans fat is great news for preventing heart disease and improving the health of our community.”

“Our rising health care costs, our growing number of obese, diabetic and chronically ill residents, and a lack of information to inform choices that improve our health, all prompted the Board of Health to take action today,” said Seattle City Councilmember and Board of Health Member Sally Clark.

“Since last December, the King County Board of Health has considered options to halt and potentially reverse the growing obesity trend in our county. After many months of education, discussion and deliberation, as well as the appointment and recommendations from a stakeholder committee, we resolved that banning trans fats and requiring chain restaurants to menu label were important options we could implement,” said Issaquah Mayor and Board of Health Member Ava Frisinger. “The worsening health of residents is an extremely complex problem to solve, but eliminating fats we know harm health and providing consumers with information about the food they eat are two strategies that can begin to address and improve our health.”

“The American Heart Association has long recognized that the consumption of artificial trans fats and the increase in obesity rates puts people at risk for heart disease,” said Dr. Benjamin Danielson, M.D., volunteer spokesperson and local board member for the American Heart Association. “The Board’s action today fits into our comprehensive approach to improving the health of King County residents by empowering all of us to be informed consumers and making healthier eating choices.”

“Menu labeling has the support of more than 65% of King County residents, who want to know how healthy, or unhealthy, restaurant meals they enjoy are,” said Board of Health Member Dr. Bud Nicola. “People with diabetes who track their intake of carbohydrates, people with high blood pressure who watch the sodium content of foods, and people who are overweight or obese, who are calorie or fat counting, will all see direct benefits in their ability to manage their condition.”

The Board of Health and Public Health - Seattle & King County will be working with the restaurant industry and the public through education campaigns that will prepare them for the menu labeling and trans fat changes in the upcoming months. Technical assistance will be available to restaurants to assist them in following the new regulations. The public education campaign includes plans to work with community partners to ensure that everyone understands how to utilize the nutritional information to make informed choices.

More about menu labeling:

The new law will require chain restaurants with more than ten national locations to display calorie, fat, sodium and carbohydrate information on menus. If the restaurant uses a menu board, the calories will be posted on the board in the same size and font as the price information. The remaining nutritional information will be provided in a plainly visible format at the point of ordering. Only standard menu items will need to be labeled – occasional “specials” will be exempt.

Restaurants will have until August 1, 2008 to conduct the nutritional analysis and put the information on menus and menu boards. King County will be the second jurisdiction in United States to require menu labeling in some food establishments.

More about artificial trans fats:

Trans fats will be eliminated in all King County restaurants in two phases. Fry oils and shortenings with artificial trans fats will not be permissible after April 1st, 2008. Restaurants must find alternatives for margarine and all other products containing trans fats by February 1st, 2009. Many restaurants have already made the switch to trans fat free alternatives, but the new rules will ensure that the remaining restaurants will make the change as well.

Artificial trans fats have been used widely in the restaurant and processed food industries because they have a high smoking temperature and they keep food stable over a long shelf life. Industry trends have been to find alternatives to the use of trans fats, so there are non-trans fats options available from distributors and in processed products.

The King County Board of Health sets county-wide public health policy, enacts and enforces local public health regulations, and carries out other duties of local boards of health specified in state law. These duties include enforcing state public health statutes, preventing and controlling the spread of infectious disease, abating nuisances, and establishing fee schedules for licenses, permits and other services.


TOPICS: Government; Miscellaneous; News/Current Events; US: Washington
KEYWORDS: food; foodnazis; foodpolice; kingcounty; menus; rats; seattle; transfats; washington; washingtonstate
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Related FR thread from July 10, 2007

King County May Ban Trans Fats At Restaurants (Washington State)

1 posted on 07/20/2007 1:27:20 PM PDT by Stoat
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To: All
Related article from July 19, 2007 in the Seattle P.I.

(excerpted due to Free Republic posting rules, please click on the link to read the full text)

King County restaurants told to phase out trans fats

"Joining what appears to be a national trend in the wake of the obesity epidemic, the King County Board of Health told county restaurants Thursday to phase out trans fats and voted to require chain restaurants to provide nutritional information for all menu items.

The new rules, opposed by the restaurant industry as too costly, were adopted after about six hours of discussion and comments from members of the public, most of whom supported the rules.

The labeling requirement calls for all chain restaurants -- those with at least 10 branches nationwide -- to list calories, saturated fat, carbohydrates and sodium in each regular food item they serve. Restaurants have until Aug. 1, 2008, to comply.

Under the trans fat rule, all foods containing artificial trans fats would have to be off the menu by Feb. 1, 2009."


2 posted on 07/20/2007 1:36:11 PM PDT by Stoat (Rice / Coulter 2008: Smart Ladies for a Strong America)
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To: Stoat

While they’re at it they should ban all Coke/Pepsi products and any other products made with corn syrup.


3 posted on 07/20/2007 1:36:51 PM PDT by proudpapa (Thompson and/or Hunter.)
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To: Libertina; RainMan; Maynerd; Bobsvainbabblings; moneypenny; Kaylee Frye; Clintonfatigued; ...
Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket
Say WA? Evergreen State ping

FReepmail sionnsar if you want on or off this ping list.

Ping sionnsar if you see a Washington state related thread.

4 posted on 07/20/2007 1:37:43 PM PDT by sionnsar (trad-anglican.faithweb.com |Iran Azadi| 5yst3m 0wn3d - it's N0t Y0ur5 (SONY) | UN: Useless Nations)
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To: proudpapa
While they’re at it they should ban all Coke/Pepsi products and any other products made with corn syrup.

As well as requiring all restaurants to employ State-certified "nutrition experts" who will circulate throughout the restaurant and "adjust" patrons' orders based upon a "health assessment" of the patron / food order interrelationship.

5 posted on 07/20/2007 1:40:50 PM PDT by Stoat (Rice / Coulter 2008: Smart Ladies for a Strong America)
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To: Stoat

The profit margins must be phenomenal in King County to foster such buffoonish notions from the ruling elite. I’m soooo glad I moved from King County in 1985.


6 posted on 07/20/2007 1:41:29 PM PDT by bigfootbob
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To: bigfootbob

My family moved out of Bellevue in 2002. I was sad about it and wish I could go back, but between Christine Gregoire’s stolen election and this crap I see King County has become just another San Francisco+suburbs lib-fest.

We never should have let the Californians move up there (we came from Michigan, incidentally.)


7 posted on 07/20/2007 1:45:21 PM PDT by MIT-Elephant ("Armed with what? Spitballs?")
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To: Stoat

At some point in the near past, these damn Boards of Health seem to have taken over everything.

At some level, virtually everything is unhealthy.

The precedent has been set. Fear the future.


8 posted on 07/20/2007 1:47:35 PM PDT by swarthyguy
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To: Stoat

Ah, King County, where they ban trans fats, but celebrate trans sexuals!


9 posted on 07/20/2007 1:49:00 PM PDT by hunter112 (Change will happen when very good men are forced to do very bad things.)
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To: bigfootbob
The profit margins must be phenomenal in King County to foster such buffoonish notions from the ruling elite. I’m soooo glad I moved from King County in 1985.

And it seems that their profits will rise exponentially in the near future, as I've heard that there is a passionate, religious zeal on the part of King County 'government' to increase the number of red-light cameras in Seattle as quickly as possible.

I would have left decades ago if it hadn't been for responsibilities that keep me here.  "sigh"

10 posted on 07/20/2007 1:49:53 PM PDT by Stoat (Rice / Coulter 2008: Smart Ladies for a Strong America)
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To: Stoat

Certainly Castro would approve of this, so it must be a good thing.


11 posted on 07/20/2007 1:53:52 PM PDT by vetsvette (Bring Him Back)
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To: Stoat

I don’t have a problem with labels being required. I do have a problem with banning things like trans fats. If someone wants to eat them, knowing they are there, they should be able to go for it.


12 posted on 07/20/2007 1:55:29 PM PDT by MEGoody (Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.)
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To: MIT-Elephant

Kalifornian’s have a way of screwing up every where they go. That is who we should consider deporting and building a wall against.


13 posted on 07/20/2007 1:55:43 PM PDT by bigfootbob
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To: proudpapa

“While they’re at it they should ban all Coke/Pepsi products and any other products made with corn syrup.”

Another great idea for which Castro would express delight.


14 posted on 07/20/2007 1:56:13 PM PDT by vetsvette (Bring Him Back)
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To: swarthyguy

If one can no longer own weapons and the government controls what one eats then serfdom/slavery will soon follow.


15 posted on 07/20/2007 1:58:22 PM PDT by BwanaNdege (Actions have consequences. Truth ALWAYS matters.)
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To: Stoat
Blame it on PETA

Oh hell blame it on Bush he gets the blame for everything

16 posted on 07/20/2007 1:59:27 PM PDT by Shots (If you see Known Illegal Immigrants it is your civic duty to report them)
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To: Stoat

I don’t see anything wrong with this. People can read the information and take personal responsibility for their choices.


17 posted on 07/20/2007 1:59:46 PM PDT by durasell (!)
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To: proudpapa
While they’re at it they should ban all Coke/Pepsi products and any other products made with corn syrup.

In addition to the fact that Coke and Pepsi aren't made with corn syrup, what else are you misinformed about?

18 posted on 07/20/2007 2:03:38 PM PDT by Mase (Save me from the people who would save me from myself!)
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To: vetsvette
Everyone would express delight. Coke & Pepsi just haven't been the same since they switched to that awful syrup.
19 posted on 07/20/2007 2:06:37 PM PDT by Apt604
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To: Mase

In addition to the fact that Coke and Pepsi aren’t made with corn syrup, what else are you misinformed about?


Why aren’t there any eggs in eggplants? This is a huge scandal! The people have to know!


20 posted on 07/20/2007 2:09:31 PM PDT by durasell (!)
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