In This Section:
ASHRAE, DOE Partner For Greener Buildings
Steak 'n Shake, Starwood, Arby's, Even Canada Get Phat Going Trans Fat-Free
FTC Subpoenas Food Company Marketing Records
St. Louis, Sarasota Go To Dogs
This issue's Economic Report Sponsor: Manitowoc Foodservice Group
Industry Report Sponsor: Server Products
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ASHRAE, DOE Partner For Greener Buildings
Want to see your energy costs go down? So do the American Society for Heating, Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning Engineers and the U.S. Department of Energy.
The two groups signed a memo of intent some months ago to push programs that will increase the energy efficiency of buildings by 30% over 2004 levels within the next few years. The two groups, which have worked together since the energy crises of the 1970s, are jointly promoting implementation of ANSI/ASHRAE/IESNA Standard 90.1, an energy efficiency standard for all buildings except low-rise residential housing.
ASHRAE wants to go a step further, however, to meet goals of improving efficiency 30% by '10. The organization plans to develop guidance to help the building industry exceed Standard 90.1. ASHRAE and DOE said they plan to improve building energy efficiency in a variety of ways, including encouraging interoperability of building-related software, educating owners and managers about relationships between mechanical systems and building operating costs, and collaborating on research into cleaner and renewable energy sources.
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Steak 'n Shake, Starwood, Arby's, Even Canada Get Phat Going Trans Fat-Free
Awash lately in trans fat announcements, last month we held up yet another list of those eschewing trans fat in food. If you're keeping a record, you can add Steak 'n Shake, Starwood Hotels, Arby's and even Canada.
Steak 'n Shake Company, with 478 stores in 19 states, last month announced it's now using a trans fat-free cooking oil. The chain said it plans to eliminate trans fat from menu items wherever possible, but doesn't have a specific timetable.
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide also announced plans to eliminate trans fat from food and beverage menus in its 400 hotels in the United States, Canada and Caribbean by the end of the year.
Arby's, which said it was the first to eliminate trans fat in the fries provided by its suppliers, now also has switched to a trans fat-free cooking oil, making almost all of its fried foods virtually trans fat-free. About 70% of the chain's menu now has less than 0.5 g of trans fat per serving.
And as fleetingly referenced in a FN story Aug. 14 about Calgary considering implementing its own city ban, Canada's health minister Tony Clement recently said he hopes restaurants and food processors across that country will voluntarily reduce or eliminate trans fat from foods within two years. A federal Trans Fat Task Force report set limits restricting trans fat content in vegetable oils and soft margarines to 2% of the total fat content. For all other foods, the report said trans fat levels should not exceed 5%.
The task force also recommended that the Canadian government mandate the limits by June 2008. Clement said if voluntary efforts don't work within two years, he'll consider a mandate. Along with Calgary, Toronto too is considering a city trans fat ban of its own.
FTC Subpoenas Food Company Marketing Records
As expected, the Federal Trade Commission issued subpoenas to 44 food companies for information on how they market products to children. The FTC indicated last year it would seek the marketing records of major food companies, and this spring issued a second notification.
As you've read in an earlier FER Fortnightly, the food industry meanwhile has been taking its own steps to fend off an FTC recommendation to Congress for more regulation. A coalition of major companies announced earlier this summer that it would self-regulate marketing efforts to children. Rules the companies said they would follow include dropping the use of characters in promotions aimed at kids under 12, and advertising only foods low in fat, calories, sugar and sodium to younger children.
Companies that received subpoenas, including McDonald's, PepsiCo, Kraft and General Mills among others, have 90 days to respond. The FTC study on food marketing to kids was mandated by an appropriations bill that funded the agency.
St. Louis, Sarasota Go To Dogs
Call it the "dog days of August" or a slow regulatory news week. Generally we're trying to minimize the outdoor doggie dining stories because they've become so commonplace. But with a break in more pressing action this issue, we thought we'd help you catch up on such news.
The latest jurisdictions to allow canine dining in outdoor seating areas include St. Louis and Sarasota, Fla.
St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay let the dogs out in July, signing a revised bill that won city board approval. The revised version excludes about six of the city's 28 wards due to objections from aldermen in those wards. It also adds requirements to immediately clean up "any unsanitary condition resulting from a dog" and provide "waterless hand sanitizer in a convenient location" as well as keeping dogs leashed. Restaurants will have the right to refuse service to unruly pets.
And a few weeks after Sarasota County, Fla., had approved an ordinance two months ago allowing dogs to dine in restaurants in unincorporated areas of the county, the city pushed through its own similar law. City commissioners unanimously voted to allow well-behaved dogs on leashes into outdoor dining areas in city restaurants. Permits for restaurants wanting to allow patio pooches cost $150.
Have we, too, gone to the dogs covering this groundswell of patio poochery, this sudden crush of canine culinary companionship? Some of the editors here think so.
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