King County considers trans fat ban
If you’d been at our Meet Up last night, you could’ve joined in on the conversation about drunk food. Legendary local burger chain Dick’s got a positive mention from a few of us. I don’t go to Dick’s often, maybe once every couple of months or so (less often when I’m going through one of my vegetarian phases) but every now and then I get a craving for that sort of greasy goodness one can only get at a place like Dick’s.
This morning I read in the Tacoma News-Tribune [story] that King County is considering following in the steps of New York City by banning the use of trans-fats in local restaurants. [metblog].
Trans-fats are used to create shelf-stable products like baked goods, cake mixes, crackers, and salad dressings. Restaurants that serve a lot of fried food–burger joints, particularly–often cook food in trans-fat laden oils. Many restaurants are voluntarily phasing out trans-fats on their own, but others protest the cost of switching or worry about demand for non-trans fat oils outstripping supply.
King County Health staff members were scheduled to present a briefing to the Board of Health today. The state Board of Health is also considering the issue; in either case, there will be months of discussion before actions, if any, are taken.
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the dick’s website says that they use 100% vegetable oil for their fries. does this mean they’d be safe from the trans-fat ban?
It depends on if the veg oil is partially hydrogenated. check out http://www.bantransfat.com for lots of info!
Who is spearheading this project? I contacted PCC last month and they said they were not aware of any grassroots efforts. I’m highly interested in beinga part of this.