Banned in Boston
Boston on Thursday became the latest city to ban artificial trans fats from food served in restaurants and grocery stores.
It’s no longer news, except for this quote.
Anne McHugh, who runs the Boston Health Commission’s chronic disease prevention campaign, said the city had “stepped into a leadership role” with this move.
Anne, come back to us.
Boston isn’t the first or even second city to require this change. It’s not “leadership” when Chicago, New York, Philadelphia, and even Louisville, Kentucky — home to Yum! Brands, parent company of KFC, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, Long John Silver’s, and A&W — did it first.
There’s little risk when just about every fast food restaurant has gone or plans to go trans fat-free.
Actually, the trans fat debate in America was settled 2 years ago.
Here are the results of a 2006 Harris survey of 1,040 US adults.
- 54% of adults were familiar with the impact that saturated fat on their health.
- 77% of those were very/extremely concerned about the health hazards of this type of fat.
- 46% of adults were familiar with the impact of trans fats health.
- 79% of those were very/extremely concerned over this health hazard.
A Wall Street Journal poll conducted in 2006 found that 61% of its readers supported a ban on trans fats in restaurants. Interpret this result in the context of the readership of The Journal who tend to be more conservative and supporters of business.
I think we’ve reached a consensus.