In a case of life imitating a presumptive weekly newspaper (won’t say which one), Multnomah County Commissioner Lisa Naito has announced that she is calling for “regulations to reduce to a minimal level the amount of trans fats served to the people who dine at Multnomah County restaurants, bakeries and schools.”

She is asking for a public hearing on February 22, with a final vote on March 1st.

Her full press release is after the jump.

STATEMENT OF COMMISSIONER LISA NAITO ON PROPOSED REGULATION OF TRANS FATS IN FOODS SERVED AT MULTNOMAH COUNTY RESTAURANTS

They are said to be ten times more deadly than all food-borne illnesses put together. They have been called as deadly as second-hand smoke. Trans unsaturated fatty acids. Trans fats. This artificial substance is a known health hazard. The federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has said there is no safe level of trans fat in a healthy diet. In order to decrease the risk of coronary heart disease and save lives, the FDA has required trans fat content to be listed on all grocery store food labels for the past year. But Multnomah County citizens who dine out are in the dark; we have no way of knowing whether the restaurant food we're being served contains trans fats. Our school-aged children are even more captive, they have only two lunch-time dining choices, the brown bag or the school cafeteria.

I am calling today for regulations to reduce to a minimal level the amount of trans fats served to the people who dine at Multnomah County restaurants, bakeries and schools.

As extreme as this may sound, we are not at the forefront of this movement. The makers of Fritos and Oreos have taken the trans fat out of their chips and cookies. The makers of Crisco offer a Zero Trans Fat All-Vegetable Shortening. Wendy's, KFC, Burger King, Taco Bell, Arby's, Cheesecake Factory, and now Starbucks have all reduced or are actively working to reduce trans fats in their menu items. The City of New York is requiring that its 20,000 restaurants eliminate trans fats from their menus. Anyone who has read the book or watched the movie Fast Food Nation knows trans fats aren't good for you.

I will be introducing a resolution this month asking the Multnomah County Health Department to draft regulations, modeled after those enacted by New York City and Tiburon, California. I am asking for a public hearing on the proposed regulations on February 22nd, with a final vote on March 1st. My resolution will request that these regulations be phased in by the end of 2008, giving restaurateurs, bakers and school districts nearly two years to modify their recipes and meal offerings.

To critics of this proposal I say, this is the right thing to do. If we join with other jurisdictions around the country who are also poised to regulate trans fats "“ including the States of California and Massachusetts, the cities of Chicago and Boston, and Los Angeles and King Counties "“ in calling for restaurants to use trans fats at an acceptable level, we can change the dynamic and halt this nation's obesity epidemic, especially for our children. If communities across the nation collectively call for the near-elimination of trans fats in the foods we eat, the food industry can and will adapt "“ just as automakers have risen to the challenge to make our cars safer. Already, the major manufacturers of cooking oils, including Cargill, Archer-Daniels-Midland, and Bunge are making substitutes for trans fats.

Finally, I applaud the dozens of restaurants in Portland, in Gresham, and throughout Multnomah County that already offer trans fat-free menus. I ask them to join me in supporting this proposal and challenging their professional colleagues to help the citizens of Multnomah County combat obesity and heart disease.