County looks at cutting down on trans fats

GLENDALE — Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors directed public health officials Tuesday to cook up a plan that will entice restaurants away from using trans fats in their ingredients.

Despite four bills pending in the state legislature that would strictly regulate the use of trans fats in restaurants and schools, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted to create a voluntary, countywide ban on trans fats through an incentive-based program.

“Any time you have a movement that will improve the public health, the sooner the better,” said Tony Bell, spokesman for Supervisor Michael Antonovich, who represents the Glendale area.

Artificial trans fats come from partially hydrogenated vegetable oil and are found mostly in margarines, baked and fried goods and snack foods.

Health officials have found that the ingredient contributes to an increased risk of coronary heart disease, while contributing to the county’s high obesity rates.

The board was seeking an all-out ban, but was forced to backtrack after its lawyers said it lacked the authority to do so.

But the incentive-based approach is gaining support, especially from industry representatives who say the use of trans fats is already on its way out.

“Our industry has gone away from trans fats from some time now,” said Andrew Caseña, director of Los Angeles government affairs for the California Restaurant Assn.

Even for the popular Porto’s Bakery on Brand Boulevard, the use of trans fats is used very little in only a few select items, making the effects of a ban almost unnoticeable, said Tony Salazar, who heads the restaurant’s baking operations.

“We don’t really use it that much for it be a big deal,” he said.

Management at the high-end Carousel restaurant on Brand Boulevard said county efforts to reduce trans fats were of little concern for a restaurant that doesn’t even serve butter with its bread.

For those who cut out trans fats, county health officials will likely introduce a decal in 45 days to be placed in storefront windows designating the restaurant as trans-fat free, said Jonathan Fielding, director of the Los Angeles County Department of Health.

“It would be a good symbol for consumers,” he said.

The sticker will likely be similar in size to the “grade” decals already given out by the county health department, Fielding said.

The concept is already a hit with restaurants that would like to be recognized for already banning the fatty ingredient, Caseña said.

“Members really want to show off that they’re trans-fat free,” he said. “The sticker will give credit to those who’ve already done it.”

For those who haven’t, Fielding said it is too early to tell which incentives might be developed.

In the board report, health officials cited concerns that smaller restaurants may be “more difficult to reach” and “more resistant to change,” but Caseña said some eateries were bound to take longer in a county that hosts more than 25,000 restaurants.

National chains such as Wendy’s, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Taco Bell, Olive Garden, Red Lobster and Starbucks have announced plans to eliminate trans fats from their menus.