Trans Fat: California Becomes First State To Kick It Out of Restaurants

Jennifer Moore for SUGAR SHOCK! Blog

California has become the first state in the United States to boot trans fat from restaurants and retail baked goods, according to Jennifer Steinhauer of The New York Times.

This means that the 88,000 restaurants in American’s most populous state will soon be free of trans fats.

The ban will be phased in gradually; trans fat must disappear from restaurants by 2010 and from baked goods by 2011, according to Steinhauer.

Unfortunately though, processed foods, a major source of trans fat, will be exempt from this new law.

The bill’s author was Democratic Assemblyman and former elementary school teacher Tony Mendoza, who decided to push for the ban because of the number of obese children he saw at his school, Steinhauer reports.

Not surprisingly, California’s restaurant lobby opposed the measure. The group conceded that trans fats are dangerous, but it was still against the ban.

“Our opposition was philosophical," explained Lara Dunbar, the California Restaurant Association‘s senior vice president of government affairs. "Banning one product isn’t necessarily the right solution.”

So let me get this straight: The restaurant lobby doesn’t dispute research showing the risks trans fat poses, but the group thinks it’s right to keep larding up the food because by banning it, you’re trumping people’s right to health? Absurd.

Thankfully, the government in California ignored this nonsense and took a big step to protect its 36-plus million citizens. I guess it’s no surprise that California would enact such a ban with the very fit Arnold Schwarzenegger as its governor.

Kudos to California, and let’s hope the other 49 states follow its lead!

And thanks to Jennifer Steinhauer of The New York Times for her report on this great news, which was also covered by the Patrick McGreevy of the Los Angeles Times, the Associated Press and Reuters.