In This Section:
NYC: Trans Fat Out, Calorie Counts In
EU Health Ministers Okay WHO's Fat Fight
Atlantic City Ban May Spell End Of Smoking In Casinos
Macomb County, Mich., To Pull Plug On Uncertified Managers
This issue's Economic Report Sponsor: Hotelex Shanghai, April 4-7, 2007 |
Industry Report Sponsor: Server Products
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NYC: Trans Fat Out, Calorie Counts In
If you've been reading FER Fortnightly, you saw this coming. New York indeed became the first major city to ban trans fat earlier this month when the city's board of health voted to prohibit restaurants from cooking in oil containing trans fat, effective next July. The health board is giving restaurants another year, until July 2008, to eliminate trans fat from all the food they serve. Chicago is presently considering a similar ban.
The National Restaurant Association immediately decried New York's ban, saying in a statement that it's unreasonable to expect the supply chain to provide 24,000 NYC restaurants with trans fat-free oil in six months.
Some chains have been experimenting for two years or more with various substitutes. Arby's is the most recent of the major chains to switch, following moves by KFC, Wendy's, Taco Bell, and Culver's. Arby's is using a non-hydrogenated corn oil, and its French fry supplier has eliminated trans fat from the oil it uses to par-fry product. McDonald's, which has been testing alternative oils for years, has yet to settle on a solution.
In addition to the ban, the health board also passed an ordinance requiring chains that provide nutrition information to list calorie counts next to items on their menus.
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EU Health Ministers Okay WHO's Fat Fight
Health ministers from 53 European countries recently approved a World Health Organization charter to reduce obesity levels in Europe. The WHO charter aims to stop the growth in obesity rates in five years and reverse the trend by 2015.
For the first time, the charter commits governments to investing in improving the availability of healthy foods, among other topics addressed in the motion. WHO estimates that half of all adults and 20% of all children are overweight, triple the obesity rate of 20 years ago.
The charter also obliges the food and restaurant industries to limit their marketing of high-fat and sugary foods to children. Already feeling pressured in the U.K., Burger King announced that starting in December it won't advertise on children's programs or directly to children at all there.
Burger King also is being pressured to pull ads for its Double-Cheese Bacon XXL burger in Spain. The Spanish health ministry has said the chain is in violation of an agreement signed by the Spanish Federation of Hoteliers and Restaurateurs that promises not to promote huge food portions. The XXL has 971 calories and 25 grams of saturated fat. A company spokesperson said customers can always choose a salad instead.
Atlantic City Ban May Spell End Of Smoking In Casinos
A proposed ordinance in Atlantic City, N.J, may be the beginning of the end of smoking in casinos.
Casinos there dodged a bullet last year, so to speak, when the New Jersey law that prohibited smoking in public places, effective last April, exempted the gaming facilities. But now Atlantic City wants to pass its own ordinance, and it's looking hard at the casinos. The city council votes on the proposal at the end if this month.
Nevada's voters just approved a statewide ballot measure that bans smoking, too, but the state still allows smoking on casino floors. That could change, however, soon leaving only casinos on tribal land exempt from bans.
Until now, casinos have generally been exempt from anti-smoking legislation, which has been enacted in more than 30 states. Several states have allowed local governments to pass their own bans.
Macomb County, Mich., To Pull Plug On Uncertified Managers
If your unit managers in Macomb County, Mich., aren't yet food safety certified, you're running out of time. The Detroit area county passed a rule that took effect Jan. 1, 2004, that all foodservice operations must have a certified manager on staff by this coming Jan.1.
That's three years to make sure your managers are trained, but county health department director Tom Kalkofen said about 600 of the county's 2,200 restaurants still hadn't complied by the end of last month. The county is posting names of restaurants that haven't gotten with the program yet on its web site.
Come January, however, a web site listing will be the least of your problems if your managers still aren't trained. The county will start shutting down restaurants without a certified manager on the premises.
To check on yourself, go to www.macombcountymi.gov/publichealth.
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