Artificial trans fat ban

A ban on the use of artificial trans fat-containing cooking oils which came into effect on January 1 means restaurants in California will no longer be able to use ‘oil, shortening or margarine containing specified trans fats’.

The ban will extend to all retail baked goods by 2011, although packaged foods will be exempt.
Bans have also been implemented in several cities, including New York City and Philadelphia, as well as parts of Maryland. But there has been controversy about how easy or difficult it is for manufacturers to reformulate with non-hydrogenated fats.