NY eateries face new rules on trans fats, calories

New York City's board of health this week voted to phase out most artificial trans fats from restaurants, forcing doughnut shops and fast-food stands to remove artery-clogging oils from their cooking.

In a separate vote, the board of health also ordered restaurants to standardise how they display the number of calories in dishes on their menus in an effort to combat obesity.

That law, to take effect from July 1, applies to restaurants that already report the calorie counts and requires them to display the numbers on menus and menu boards. It is expected to affect about 10 per cent of New York City restaurants, including many fast-food establishments.

City officials estimate New Yorkers consume about one-third of their calories outside the home and that they routinely underestimate the number of calories in restaurant food. At the same time, national obesity rates have more than doubled over the past three decades, with 32 per cent of US adults listed as obese in 2002-2004, according to the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.

Some restaurant owners opposed the measure as costly but city health officials said the public response was overwhelmingly positive as consumers wanted labelling similar to that already required by the federal government for many supermarket items.

The law applies only to restaurants that already provide such information and attempts to force them to display the information prominently, as opposed to simply posting it on the internet or in an obscure location.

Restaurants that already report calorie counts could skirt the law by deciding not to disclose calorie counts at all, and officials said if that happened frequently they would consider further action.

"We think it would be striking if restaurants remove the labelling of calories rather than make it more readily available," said Thomas Friedan, the city health commissioner.