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California, a national trendsetter in all matters edible, became the first state to ban trans fats in restaurants when Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a bill Friday to phase out their use over the next few years. Under the new law, the fats must be excised from restaurant products beginning in 2010, and from all retail baked goods by 2011. Packaged manufactured foods will be exempt. In recent years trans-fats have become almost the new cigarettes among public health policy makers, with consumer behavior as much in the crosshairs as the product itself in governments' attempt to curb harmful effects. On...

California is poised to become the first state in the nation to ban restaurants and other food facilities from using trans fats, which are known to increase the risk of heart disease, under a bill approved by the state Legislature today and sent to the governor. The measure, passed with a bare majority, comes two weeks after a similar ban in New York City became fully effective. California doctor and consumer groups support the law, while restaurant groups have offered a lukewarm response. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has not taken a position, a spokesman said. Assemblyman Tony Mendoza, D-Artesia (Los Angeles...

Following the lead of New York City and Brookline, health regulators in Boston last night took the first step toward banning artery-clogging trans fat from French fries, doughnuts, and other food sold in restaurants and corner stores. more stories like this The Boston Public Health Commission voted unanimously, after little discussion, to give preliminary approval to a ban that would take effect late this year if it receives another thumbs-up in the spring. Commission members were spurred to action by scientific evidence linking artificial trans fat to heart disease in humans and to diabetes and obesity in animal studies. Brookline...

Representative Tyrone Yates, citing rising heart disease and obesity rates, says he will introduce a bill to ban trans fats in Ohio restaurants. Yates’ bill, if passed, allows restaurants to phase out the use of trans fat in deep-frying over a year’s period of time. The Ohio restaurant association has just learned of Yates’ proposal, and hasn't seen it yet. In an e-mailed statement, the group says it supports the gradual elimination of trans fats through a voluntary, incentive-based approach, rather than an outright ban.

Oh Mirror, Mirror on the Wall, who's the most revisionist of us all? Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) provides the classic example of chutzpah, like when the child who murders his parents pleads for mercy in court because he is an orphan! In this case, the crime is the complete ruination of the food supply with the replacement of healthy traditional saturated fats with partially hydrogenated soybean oil, and the victim is the unsuspecting public, suffering from ever-increasing rates of cancer, heart disease, infertility, impotence, asthma, allergies, learning disabilities, bone problems, digestive disorders, diabetes and obesity. On...

As America gets fatter, policymakers are seeking creative approaches to legislating health. They may have entered the school cafeteria -- and now they're eyeing your neighborhood. Amid worries of an obesity epidemic and its related illnesses, including high blood pressure, diabetes and heart disease, Los Angeles officials, among others around the country, are proposing to limit new fast-food restaurants -- a tactic that could be called health zoning. The City Council will be asked this fall to consider an up to two-year moratorium on new fast-food restaurants in South L.A., a part of the city where fast food is at...

I was willing to entertain the thought of you as a refreshing, charming, surprising second-tier candidate whose eloquence and wit would serve the party well (although trashing the Club for Growth was really pushing it). But a national smoking ban? You're not running a health spa; it's a country, and you will never win friends in North Carolina talking like that. These big-time pound-shedders cum health nuts. You applaud them as they get healthy, but be careful putting them in power-- they'll take your food and other vices away from you quick as look at you. Because they know what's...

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...

King County May Ban Trans Fats At Restaurants   POSTED: 7:53 am PDT July 10, 2007 UPDATED: 2:12 pm PDT July 10, 2007  SEATTLE -- Restaurants and food services would be required to stop using trans fats under a proposal the King County Board of Health will consider later this month. The ban would affect 10,000 licensed kitchens in the county. "We can see no good reason to --- absolutely zero good reason -- why they should continue to put that stuff in any food product," said Julia Patterson of the King County Board of Health. According to a...

The other day, six Anglican archbishops called for the church to bless the unions of same-sex couples. The Anglican Church of Canada is about to have a big vote on the issue, and depending which way they swing it will either deepen the schism within the worldwide Anglican Communion or further isolate the Episcopal Church of the United States. But never mind all that. What struck me was the rationale the archbishops came up with. This gay thing, they sighed. We've been yakking about it for years. Let's just get on with it, and then we can get back to...

We’ve been through this before, but know-what’s-best-for-you progressives just won’t let it go. The “Center for Science in the Public Interest” led by your typical disheveled looking liberal, Michael Jacobson, is suing Burger King because the food they serve contains the deadly trans fats. “WASHINGTON, May 16 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — By using partially hydrogenated oil, Burger King is knowingly increasing its customers’ risk of heart disease and early death, according to a lawsuit filed today by the nonprofit Center for Science in the Public Interest. CSPI is asking a District of Columbia Superior Court judge to order the restaurant chain to...

Montgomery County, where only county-run stores can be trusted to sell liquor and where the county has tossed smokers out of bars and restaurants, is now the first county in the nation to ban trans fats. The county council voted yesterday to prohibit restaurants, bakeries and delis from using the unhealthful fats in their cooking and food preparation. Apparently oblivious to the fact that a trans fat ban in New York City is forcing some chefs there to abandon butter because it contains small amounts of natural trans fat, the nannies who run Montgomery County unanimously voted to take choices...

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) -- When Sen. Ellen Karcher proposed a ban on trans fats at restaurants in the Garden State last fall, she received so many threatening phone calls that state police closed her office and escorted her staff out the door. A talk radio station had urged listeners to call Karcher's office and complain, she said. ``It was so out of proportion,'' she said. ``We're talking about replacing cooking oil to try to make New Jersey healthier and save some money'' on long-term health costs. She is the sponsor of one of two food-related bills to promote better health...

PHILADELPHIA — Philadelphia is set to become the second large American city to ban restaurants from serving trans fats, which doctors say increase the risk of heart disease. The City Council approved the ban unanimously Thursday, and Mayor John F. Street is expected to sign it. The measure would prohibit restaurateurs from frying foods in trans fats or serving trans fat-based spreads beginning Sept. 1. By Sept. 1, 2008, trans fats would be banned in all other types of food prepared in Philadelphia eateries. Doctors say trans fats — listed on food labels as partially hydrogenated vegetable oil — can...

NEW YORK (CNN) -- A New York City Council member Thursday proposed pushing sponsors to ban abnormally thin models from walking New York Fashion Week's runways. Council member Gail Brewer wants fashion houses to ban any model with a body mass index of less than 18.5 -- the cutoff for the World Health Organization's definition of "normal." Brewer said she wants models to be educated on nutrition and designers to encourage healthful lifestyles. "We want the designers to offer some clothes that are a little bit more robust," she also told CNN, "and we certainly don't want people under the...

This past Wednesday I purchased some Great Value squeezable margarine from Wal-Mart. The front label proclaimed that it contained zero transfats. However, on the back label, one of the contents listed was partially hydrogenated cotton seed oil. Doesn't hydrogenation cause the transfats?

A scant two days after New York City became the first U.S. city to ban trans-fats in restaurant cooking, chefs were scrambling to test alternatives. Well, at least one chef was to my knowledge. Yesterday's New York Times had an article detailing Chef Michael S. Schwartz's test of using Crisco, coconut oil, canola oil, peanut oil, butter and lard in baking and frying. The experiment took place at the Institute of Culinary Education, where Schwartz is an instructor. The dishes tested were tarte Tatin, the venerable French apple tart; French fries and fried chicken. Crisco was the only ingredient with...

New York City has ordered restaurants to stop selling food made with trans fat. "It is a dangerous and unnecessary ingredient," says the health commissioner. Gee, I'm all for good health, but shouldn't it be a matter of individual choice? A New York Times headline about the ban reads: "A Model for Other Cities." "A model for what, exactly?" asks George Mason University economist Don Boudreaux (LINK: www.cafehayek.com). "Petty tyranny? Or perhaps for similarly inspired bans on other voluntary activities with health risks? Clerking in convenience stores? Walking in the rain?" Trans fats give foods like French fries that texture...

In a bold move guaranteed to offend many the city of New York has decided to ban fat people from their public transportation system. Anticipating legal challenges the city has nevertheless approved the ordinance that would bar the calorie challenged from gaining access to public transportation. At a noon-time press conference outside of City Hall, New York City’s interim Chief of City Transportation Workers, the United 506 Stationaries declared, “We are quite serious in the efforts we are making. We feel that it is in the interest of all New Yorkers, as well as those using our transportation systems from...

You might think that officials in New York City, which has more people than all but 11 states, had enough to do providing basic city services. But Mayor Michael Bloomberg believes that what New Yorkers really need is a better diet, and he's just the man to order it. A politician's work is never done. At the mayor's urging this week, New York's Board of Health voted to ban restaurant use of artificial trans fats, those liquid oils made solid through hydrogenation and found in all manner of fried, baked and processed foods. Many of these products aren't particularly healthy,...

The battle over the trans fat ban has waddled from the Health Department to the City Council. Restaurant industry representatives showed up at City Hall yesterday to try to persuade Council members to soften two new regulations. On Tuesday, the city's Board of Health voted to ban trans fats from all city eateries and require some of them to post calorie information on their menu boards. "If anyone looks at what they are asking, it is impossible to comply with any degree of lucidity," said Richard Lipsky of the Neighborhood Retail Alliance. "There's no evidence this will have an impact...

A welcome ray of reason amidst all the MSM gloom. Good Morning America ran a segment about the proposal by NYC busybodies to ban trans-fats. The city's Health Department is holding hearings today on a proposed citywide trans-fat ban at restaurants.At the end of the piece, which reported on various restaurant chains that have switched to other fats or are considering the move, the story was tossed back to the hosts. That's when Robin Roberts struck a blow for reason and individual freedom:"Many people feel 'give us the information but allow us to make the decision.'"Right on, Robin!As Dire Straits...

New Jersey and D.C. Catch Trans Fat Ban Fever The New York City Board of Health's support for a restriction on the amount of trans fat that can be used by the city's restaurants garnered them a few new acolytes today. And if the paternalistic rhetoric used by these newly inspired do-gooders is any indicator, the Big Apple's chief food scolds better load up on robes and Kool-Aid, because the gathering of true believers is only going to get bigger. As we told you yesterday, we've launched an ad campaign to act as an antidote to the trans fat ban...

by Mark Finkelstein September 29, 2006 - 08:11 The big political news of the day at the 'Today' show was the Bob Woodward book, State of Denial. Turf battles and rivalries in a White House - who would have thought it? Dems are presumably clinging to it as the Last Best Hope for Liberal-kind. But in terms of revealing the liberal MSM mindset, I found much more interesting a few off-the-cuff comments made by members of the Today cast. At the end of the first half hour, the entire gang was gathered on the studio couch, and talk turned to...

NEW YORK (AP) -- Three years after the city banned smoking in restaurants, health officials are talking about prohibiting something they say is almost as bad: artificial trans fatty acids. The city health department unveiled a proposal Tuesday that would bar cooks at any of the city's 24,600 food service establishments from using ingredients that contain the artery-clogging substance, commonly listed on food labels as partially hydrogenated oil. Artificial trans fats are found in some shortenings, margarine and frying oils and turn up in foods from pie crusts to french fries to doughnuts. Doctors agree that trans fats are unhealthy...

A doctor and a consumer group have sued KFC in an effort to stop the chicken chain from cooking with high-fat partially hydrogenated oil. Dr. Arthur Hoyte, a retired physician from Rockville, Md., and the Center for Science in the Public Interest, want a judge to order Kentucky Fried Chicken to use other types of cooking oils or make sure customers know about trans fat content immediately before they make a purchase. KFC spokeswoman Laurie Schalow called the lawsuit frivolous and said the company will fight it in court. Schalow said KFC is looking at using other types of oil...

Japanese TV (FNN) ran a short report yesterday, highlighting the fact that Houston, Texas was voted as the US city with the most obese population.The report runs about one minute. It does not seem to be particularly flattering of poor Houston, nor overweight people living there (some which are profiled by telephoto lens). The way the clip is done is interesting, if not somewhat humorous, and from a Japanese perspective of rare obesity (but wait 'til it comes to cigarette smoking).At any rate, a short peek of how 'some' Americans are viewed and described, from overseas.

(2003-07-02) -- In an effort to blunt criticism about its use of hydrogenated oils, Kraft Foods today introduced a new product -- the Oreohibitor Transfat Cessation Patch. The patch, which a user simply twists open and sticks to the roof of his mouth, delivers a steady, but small, dose of transfat directly into the bloodstream. At first, the dosage is about two grams, only slightly less than the amount of transfat in three Oreo cookies. Gradually, the Oreohibitor patches administer lower doses, until the user is completely weaned from transfats. An unnamed Kraft spokesman said there's nothing wrong with Oreo...