CHICAGO ? In an effort that they hope will improve the health of Illinois residents, some Illinois lawmakers are proposing a bill to ban artificial trans fat from restaurants, bakeries, movie theater popcorn and snacks sold in school vending machines, the Chicago Sun-Times reports.
Should the bill become law, Illinois would be the second state after California to ban trans fat. Opponents, like Sheila O?Grady, president of the Illinois Restaurant Association, maintain the food industry is voluntarily removing trans fat from their products, and as such, the government has no business getting involved.
?In fact, in polling our members, we could not find a single operator still using trans fat oils today,? O?Grady said.
Proponents counter that the health risk requires legislation.
?There?s still a lot of trans fat in the food supply,? said Michael Jacobson, executive director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, the consumer group petitioning the FDA. ?There?s no reason to accept it. Companies big and little are still using it ... so unless the whole industry switched, why accept this risk??
Representative La Shawn Ford, a sponsor of the bill, said the evidence linking trans fat to heart disease is compelling, and that his district includes ?food deserts? ? areas where fresh produce is scarce. He said that as the percentage of blacks dying of heart disease is great, the issue is ?a major concern in the district.?
The Illinois Board of Education has not taken a stand on the bill because the federal government is already proposing rules that would require schools participating in national school meal programs to use products containing zero trans fat.
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