Calif. Bans Trans Fats From Restaurants

California Becomes First State To Ban Trans Fats From Eateries, Following Several Cities

(CBS/ AP)  California on Friday became the first state to ban trans fats from restaurant food, following several cities and major fast-food chains in erasing the notorious artery-clogger from menus.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed legislation that will ban restaurants and other retail food establishments from using oil, margarine and shortening containing trans fats.

In a statement, Schwarzenegger noted that consuming trans fat is linked to coronary heart disease.

"Today we are taking a strong step toward creating a healthier future for California," he said.

Violations could result in fines of $25 to $1,000. Food items sold in their manufacturers' sealed packaging would be exempt.

New York City, Philadelphia, Seattle, Baltimore and Montgomery County, Md., have ordinances banning trans fats, but California is the first state to adopt such a law covering restaurants, said Amy Winterfeld, a health policy analyst for the National Conference of State Legislatures.

California and Oregon already had laws banning trans fats in meals served at schools, she added.

The legislation signed by Schwarzenegger will take effect Jan. 1, 2010, for oil, shortening and margarine used in spreads or for frying. Restaurants could continue using trans fats to deep-fry yeast dough and in cake batter until Jan. 1, 2011.

Trans fats occur naturally in small amounts of meat and dairy products. Most trans fats are created by adding hydrogen to liquid oil turning them into solid fat, like shortening, reports CBS News correspondent Sandra Hughes. Transfats are found in everything from microwave popcorn to cookies and potato chips.

Trans fats increase bad cholestrol which contributes to the development of heart disease,stroke, obesity and diabetes, according to the New England Journal of Medicine.

"I would say if we could reduce or eliminate trans fats in the American diet, it would go a long way toward reducing the burden of cardiovascular disease," Dr. Russell Berdoff of Beth Israel Medical Center told CBS News.

Stephen Joseph, a Tiburon attorney who was a consultant to New York City in developing its ban, said trans fat is a larger health risk than saturated fat because it reduces so-called good cholesterol.

Trans fats are like cigarettes, with no safe level of consumption, said Jeffrey Luther, a Long Beach doctor who is president of the California Academy of Family Physicians.

He said the California law, "when it finally takes effect, will be a tremendous benefit."

The California Restaurant Association opposed the bill. Spokesman Daniel Conway said the federal Food and Drug Administration rather than individual states should be developing regulations on trans fat use.

He said, however, that the association has no plans to challenge the law, in part because restaurants already are phasing out trans fats to satisfy customers. Several major fast-food chains have announced that they have eliminated trans fats from their menus or intend to so do in the near future.

"We're confident that California restaurants can meet the mandates of the bill," Conway said.

[cyberus-2009]

And yet the shelves are overflowing with transfat loaded foods .. with "zero transfat" in huge letters .. and "per serving" in little letters underneath so they can use rounding to disguise the hydrogenated palm oil in the ingredient list.

What a joke.

[timdgrim]

Just ban California!

[rudy654-2009]

Good. Now let''s ban the whole product anywhere and everywhere. It''s just a cheap, but harmful ingredient to prolong the shelf life of many foods.

[rudy654-2009]

Knowing what we know about this harmful ingredient, it is hard to believe that anyone would be against banning it. Oh well, too bad for them.

[shanev137]

Hydrogenated vegetable oil turns into poison when it''s super heated. It breaks down chemically and was never designed to be used in a deep fryer. This is no-brain stuff folks. The food industry uses it because it''s very cheap to manufacture. Gee, that should tell you something right there.

[voidmaster-2009]

So once again some government presumes to tell its owners what is best for them. Big Brother is alive and well.

[nojoy01]

(Sigh) Now there''s gonna be even more tasteless food in California Restaurants. No, wait, we can bury our trans fat free burger in tofu, that''ll liven it up !!

[tmittelstaed]

Great!!! Using margarine in cooking in place of butter is disgusting, it''s a perversion of good cooking, and it''s outrageous that a restaurant would actually charge money to customers for fake butter. And a deep fryer works just as well on sunflower oil as it does on shortening, and many of the current deep fryer oils available for commercial restaurant use have even longer use lives than shortening. NYC banned trans fats some time ago and none of the restaurants there have had a problem with it. There''s absolutely no taste advantage to trans fats, no cost advantage, they do not make food last any longer than many non-trans fat formulations do today, and as for baking, well all the baking recipies today that call for shortening are merely MARKETING rewrites of OLDER recipies used before 1911 (when trans-fats first appeared) by the Crisco company designed to sell Crisco. They all originally called for butter or for lard. Bakers can go back to the original recipies or invent new ones.

[grammawhamma]

I just don''t get it....they beeitch about over population...then they try to keep us alive forever.

All you health fanatics are going to end up just as dead as the rest of us. You will be the ones to drain social security and medicare funds. You will be the ones to end up being a financial and emotional burden on your children and society. You will be the ones hoping someone comes to change your diaper because you filled it. But yup...you were healthy till you died!

[snapper4298]

Do Twinkies contain trans fats? I can''t cope without a Twinkie for breakfast...

Don''t ban Twinkies, pleeeaasse, I''m beggin ya, don''t ban Twinkies.

[babooph]

As a child,packaged cupcakes were too hard to eat after 10a.m.-Now they have a shelf life longer than radio active isotopes-& the same nutritional value as those isotopes.

[my2centss]

Good for them. Now maybe they can go back to cooking with butter, lard, real sugar and make the foods taste good, like they used to.

[chatmandu002]

Arnold is a traitor to the republican party. More big government and taxes.

[october1803]

I personally think it''s a great idea.....:)

[grammawhamma]

Posted by tootall1014 at 09:11 AM : Jul 26, 2008

I see I touched you healthy little nerve. Are your children willing to change your diapers and have you live in their home until you die of your longevity...or are they going to stick you in an institution and pay someone else to do it?

[edintex]

gramma whamma if the parents die from coronary disease can we count on you to pitch in your social security checks and rent assistance money to care for the surviving children of these obese and lazy and ignorant parents that die and leave thier already poor *** children for the tax payers t6o raise.
Posted by tootall1014 at 09:11 AM : Jul 26, 2008

No worries...As quickly as California is turning G-A-Y, and with your states anti-family & anti-religion tendencies, soon you wont have to worry about poor little children left for taxpayers to take care of. There wont be any pro-created children in your state.
Years from now California will be made up of nothing but very old and bitter athiest g-a-y-s. You laugh, but that is the perception normal people outside of California have about your state. The only good thing is that at least most of those kinds of "happy people" will be in one place where they can be watched.

[libsluv2spit]

let me get this correct..these govt. hating, ''govt is a facist'' california liberals wants the GOVT to tell them what to eat???

humm and they are the smart enligthened ones??

[shanev137]

Hydrogenated oils need to be banned from the entire national food supply.

[libsluv2spit]

gramma whamma if the parents die from coronary disease can we count on you to pitch in your social security checks and rent assistance money to care for the surviving children of these obese and lazy and ignorant parents that die and leave thier already poor *** children for the tax payers t6o raise.

Posted by tootall1014 at 09:11 AM : Jul 26, 2008
+ report abuse
*****

so we need a law for parents NOT TO BE OBESE so the can be REPSONSBILE parents and take care of thier kids???

hummm these bleeding heart liberals...

[libsluv2spit]

well these are the same people who thinks having a concert will cure poverty in africa...

[yankeerebel7]

Wow, California.

This is the kind of thing government has no business getting involved in. We can''t just legislate all our problems away. It''s a slippery slope.

[grammawhamma]

Isn''t this the state that wants to legalize weed?

[cyberus-2009]

I am quite sure the california dairy industry is doing a snoopy dance of joy over this ... no more margarine, Whirl, or butter flavor oils in restaurant cooking

[cyberus-2009]

----
well these are the same people who thinks having a concert will cure poverty in africa...

Posted by libsluv2spit
----
You mean the concerts where the *stars* took more off their taxes for *charity work* than the concerts raised?

[andor3]

edintex said: "... California is turning G-A-Y, and with your states anti-family & anti-religion tendencies, ... Years from now California will be made up of nothing but very old and bitter athiest g-a-y-s."

Look closely, this is a prime example of the insanity on the right that is ruining our nation. If we tolerate or want some equality for homosexual people, then he sees it as we are all homosevual. If we allow religion to be private and personal and tolerate any religion other than his, we are "anti-religion."

This all-or-nothing, black/white thinking is a sign of poor education or cowardly paranoia. And it has to stop.

[ubrew12]

GrammaWhamma said: "Isn''t this the state that wants to legalize weed?" I hope so.

[rudy654-2009]

My how the ignorant azzes multiply on this blog. Trans fat is not bacon, for the dip stick who made that assumption. Trans fat is good fat converted to bad fat. It''s poison. But only the ignorant are upset at it being banned. And of course, here is gramma whamma being the biggest jerk of all.

[rudy654-2009]

But yup...you were healthy till you died!



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Posted by GrammaWhamma at 03:08 AM

It''s called quality of life, babe! Now go back to your oxygen tank after you puff on your cigarrette.

[rudy654-2009]

So once again some government presumes to tell its owners what is best for them. Big Brother is alive and well.


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Posted by VoidMaster at 01:53 AM

You must have loved it when China was selling us poisonous dog food. Bad government for getting involved and stopping it.

[rudy654-2009]

What proof is there to show that this clogs arteries.
None of course, now we have governmenrt telling us what we can and can''''t eat, what kind of light bulbs to use in our homes and the ones they tell us to use has mercury in it. They tell us where we can or can''''t drill for oil, sure our government is looking after our welfare, the government can kiss my a$$! and so can the people of CA!!


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Posted by zgomer at 12:11 PM : Jul 26, 2008


No one wants to kiss your ignorant coroded azz. Get an education.

[rudy654-2009]

Does this mean that you can''''t go to breakfast anywhere in California and get bacon and eggs? Pigs have been outlawed? How absurd. Awnold, go back to diction class.


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Posted by maxify55 at 12:21 PM

Does anyone wonder why Americans are considered to be amongs the most ignorant? Just look at this idiotic comment.

[shameonbush]

I have a question. If I had heart disease due to trans fats, could I sue, say, McDonalds for not warning me all those years, or whatever company sells trans fats for food? What is to prevent me from suing as the tobacco companies have been sued?

[grammawhamma]

And of course, here is gramma whamma being the biggest jerk of all.
Posted by rudy654 at 07:31 PM

It''''s called quality of life, babe! Now go back to your oxygen tank after you puff on your cigarrette.
Posted by rudy654 at 07:33 PM
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Well Rudy, I have bad news for you. Maybe you should take off those rose colored glasses because your "quality of life" won''t last forever and eventually "even you" will start deteriorating. I hope you realize this.

[andor3]

"Does this mean that you can''''''''t go to breakfast anywhere in California and get bacon and eggs? "

hmmmm.. so you do not know what trans-fat is , but do not let your ignorance stop you from commenting...

[gunfighter51]

California,

Did you notice how many things need to be specially made for CA.

Cars
Mowers
Gasoline
Gay Unions
Marijuana
Immigration law

Yet even though California is considered on the cutting edge, few states follow there lead.

[andor3]

"Yet even though California is considered on the cutting edge, few states follow there lead. "

We just do the right thing, no matter what the other states think. But truth is: they all follow our lead.

Any state could lead, but most are too filled with cowards to. So the coastal states lead; that is how America works.

[carlylaine]

How dare any of you tell me what I can eat. How dare any of you...Even our eating rights are being taken away from us. GAWD! How obnoxious of you who agree...

I hope the liberals find out soon that you need to have something taken away from you...like using a porcelain toilet...Don''t tell me how to live...worry about your own little lives and stay the H*E* double-tooth-picks out of my life.

RUDY:...THE *** FOOD AND PRODUCTS IS FROM CHINA...But government should not be telling us how to eat...but should say what garbage comes in through a country who treats its people like dogs, has MOST FAVORED NATION status, and won''t allow their people to have more than one child-if it''s a female child-KILL IT...give me a break...if it comes from another country it should be looked at, inspected thoroughly and rejected if it isn''t quality...transfat is my choice. It''s going to change a lot of recipes and freedoms.

You guys can''t believe anything that Bush says...yet for this you can...OH OH OH you make me ill....

[sociald63]

oh great - fat people are now sulking

[extremophil]

"Calif. Bans Trans Fats From Restaurants"

Now if they can just ban it from the brains of their citizens......

Thank you California for taking the lead again.

[brianbwb-2009]

"Yet even though California is considered on the cutting edge, few states follow there lead."
Posted by Gunfighter51

Perhaps because those who seek a more enlightened climate transmigrate to California, one of the reasons that that state alone is the world''s 12th largest economy.

So if you are a Luddite, or sympathizer, stay in the more backward states if you wish, you don''t need California, as it does not need you.

[jlagat]

blah, blah, blah
I''m a *********.

---------------------

Posted by Gunfighter51 at 05:16 AM : Jul 27, 2008

The state of California: Not giving a s**t what the rest of America thinks since 1850.

[gunfighter51]

jlagat,
I think were smart enough to know that trans fat is not good for us.
Maybe you need the government to tell you, we don''t

[talkingham]

Oh my, my little Carly U dunce, u r breaking my heart. Someone is taking the trans fats out of your food that I bet u didn''t even know they were in there. But I digress. If you want to to fill yourself and your I bet chubby children with trans fats U can still do that. Crisco is still around and if they stop making it u r free to get a hydrogen injector so you can inject rancid veggie oils and make trans fats for your family. In fact, if you just want to speed things up u can just eat straight Crisco I''m sure you''ll like it.

For the last 30 years the media and sold out dietitians have sat by and watched a generation poisoned with this slop-- and did anyone tell me or ask me if I wanted these poisons in virtually every off the shelf "baked" good you could purchase. Thank goodness they won''t be blowing up the hearts of children with this stuff any more in some places where they have common sense. But I hope little Carly keeps eating this stuff because Carly is a big whining baby who deserves it.

[jimfinster]

How dare any of you tell me what I can eat. How dare any of you...Even our eating rights are being taken away from us. GAWD! How obnoxious of you who agree...

Posted by CarlyLaine


Nice rant. But the fact is Carly, you can still eat all the trans fats you want. There are plenty of products left on the grocery shelf, go stock up!

Many of us prefer not to eat trans fats when we dine out. Since the menu does not come with an ingredient list, this is the best way to make it happen.

[talkingham]

The edible oils industry has an extremely powerful lobby. In the early 1980''s researcher Mary Enig testified in Congress that trans fats spelled trouble and should be investigated prior to the food industry being allowed to place them in virtually every mass produced cookie and baked good as well as margarines for "heart healthy" diets - the edible oils lobby had her testimony cut from the Congressional record (in liberal George McGovern''s agriculture committee)-- how do you like that for freedom Carly- they were told this stuff was terrible but big food forced it down our throats anyway, doesn''t taste like freedom to me! These same researchers were also threatenedd by the food industry in the form of - "you''ll never get any food industry research funding!" Good old freedomof the all mighty dollar. Enig and others persisted and though it took 25 years they are winning the battle of FREEING our food from industry dictocrats who tell you what you can eat.

Meanwhile, most cardiovascular "specialists" were telling their heart disease patients to keep eating the trans fats that comprised 25-50% of most margarines and were worse than any cholesterol laden meats you could imagine. Carly it was lib George McGovern''s committee who ignored the trans fat problem- does that make you feel better now.

[whiskyrokkr]

What''s next. California is on another planet.

[whiskyrokkr]

What''s next. California is on another planet.