Portland Food and Drink

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New York City Plans Sharp Limits on Restaurants’ Use of Trans Fats

by

Pile of magazinesFrom the NY Times today:

The New York City Board of Health voted unanimously yesterday to move forward with plans to prohibit the city’s 20,000 restaurants from serving food that contains more than a minute amount of artificial trans fats

If approved, the proposal voted on yesterday by the Board of Health would make New York the first large city in the country to strictly limit such fats in restaurants. Chicago is considering a similar prohibition affecting restaurants with less than $20 million in annual sales.

The city would set a limit of a half-gram of artificial trans fats per serving of any menu item, sharply reducing most customers’ intake. The fats are commonly found in baked goods, like doughnuts and cakes, as well as breads and salad dressing.

What’s next? Foie Gras? Oh wait, they already did that one.

You can read the whole story here

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. apollo says

    Where is my freedom of choice going? If I want some greasy-ass food, I should be able to get some. If I want to eat some artificially fattened duck liver, goddamnit I should be able to eat it. What’s next? Veal? Chicken? Alcohol? F this. If any foods ever become illegal around here, I opening up a black market supper club. You are all invited. Foie gras and truffled french fries for everybody.

  3. Becky says

    I know I’m supposed to decry the nanny state but Trans Fats are NOT REAL FOOD! If you want fat: use lard or palm oil or butter. Those are all yummy, real saturated fats.

    Actually, this might be a sinsiter plot by the lard manufacturers (although the regular lard in the stores is partially hydrogenated.)

  4. -s says

    Ok, so they ban trans fats because who cares, they’re not food, and then they wake up one day and think “WHOAH, LARD AND PALM OIL AND BUTTER MAKE KIDS FAT TOO!!!!! WHO’S THINKING ABOUT THE CHILDREN??!?!???!?!?!” and what do you think they do then? You’ve given them the power to make those decisions, and make them they will.

    As someone who is intimately familiar with the workings of governments, I will say that you do need to watch what doors you open.

  5. Apollo says

    Lard is not kosher, obviously… Not a big deal here, but much more important in NY. Butter and meat together are not kosher either. Of course, peanut, vegetable, sunflower, olive, etc. oils are OK. Besides, there is something oddly addictive about trans-fatty overly processed snacks…

  6. mczlaw says

    The entire food police state scenario gives me hives.

    I’d like to blame it all on militant vegans, but the vegans I occasionally run into have a weakness for greasy fried food since nothing else they will eat lights up any of the brain’s pleasure centers. (Please note use of slight hyperbole here.)

    –mcz

  8. Bigfoot says

    Don’t worry about government outlawing trans-fats. I figure the trail lawyers are crisco’s greatest threat! Can’t you see it, “My mother made piecrust with crisco and now I have heart disease!”

  10. mczlaw says

    BF:

    Those of my colleagues hiking the trails in search of fanciful lawsuits are apt to be disappointed in Oregon.

    In 2005, the legislature passed what was affectionately referred to as the “cheeseburger bill” (HB2591 for those keeping score) which banned most claims against food sellers arising from any “food-related condition.”

    IOW, chow down at your own risk.

    –mcz
    a lover of freedom and liberty

  11. MyNextMeal says

    To preface my coment, I don’t support banning of anything…

    But I find it interesting (in a disheartening kind of way) that city-councils and local gov’ts have done more to “raise awareness” of these widespread dietary/food chain issues (ethical treament of animals you eat or transfats) than the Federal gov’t has (in terms of education, industry regulation or honest watchdog for public health).

    I can’t figure out what is worse – the half-baked but well intended notions of city councils or the absence of true informed leadership/regulation from the Feds.

    *sigh*