Boston restaurants have succeeded in eliminating trans fats
Doughnuts are next on the target list
In the first three months since Boston banned trans fat, more than 99 percent of restaurants visited by city inspectors had eliminated the artery-clogging ingredient from French fries, chicken fingers, and other dishes.
Authorities have scoured kitchens for evidence of trans fat as part of routine reviews at 1,625 restaurants since the artificial substance became illegal Sept. 13. Margarine, muffin mix, and other trans fat-laden products were discovered in eight establishments, which received warnings and were later absolved after they dumped the offending items.
One restaurant, a South Boston breakfast and lunch spot, has been fined, and even then, according to the remorseful owner, it was a case of good intentions gone awry.
Boston's experience - which mirrors the track record in New York City, where the ingredient was banished from restaurant kitchens in July 2007 - will probably bolster calls for a statewide prohibition of trans fat.
The champion of the statewide ban, state Representative Peter J. Koutoujian, predicted that Boston's success in implementing the regulation could sway legislators reluctant to meddle in the domain of restaurant chefs.
"I have made the case for a long time that this would not present a burden to business," said Koutoujian, a Waltham Democrat and cochairman of the Joint Committee on Public Health. "There's nothing good about trans fat."
Trans fat has been linked to heart disease in humans and to diabetes and obesity in animal studies. The move to ban it has roots in earlier campaigns to prohibit smoking from restaurants and taverns, a major public health intervention that faced stiff opposition from business owners. But the prohibition of trans fat - once a staple of commercially produced cakes, cookies, and pies, as well as frying oils - confronted considerably less opposition.
In many respects, the high rate of compliance with the Boston ban reflects the triumph of market demand, according to the leader of the state's largest confederation of restaurant owners.
Trans fat-free cooking oil was once hard to find and expensive, said Peter Christie, president of the Massachusetts Restaurant Association. But that has changed. "Sure enough," Christie said, "all of the trade journals began having ads saying their frying oils were trans fat-free. The consumer demand had changed so much; this is what consumers want."
New York was the first major US city to prohibit trans fat, followed in rapid succession by the Northeast's two other large metropolises, Boston and Philadelphia. Smaller cities and towns, including Brookline and Cambridge, adopted bans and then, in July, came the boldest move so far, when Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger of California signed a statewide prohibition.
New York's law went into effect in two phases, with the first part covering margarine and frying oil and the second affecting doughnuts and other baked goods, which were presumed to present more of a challenge to chefs because trans fat was used to extend shelf life and give some bakery items a flaky texture. But after enforcement of the second phase started in July of this year, New York inspectors found that 95 percent of restaurants and bakeries were abiding by the restrictions.
Diners, a New York health official said, have scarcely noticed the difference.
"You can still get cannolis, you can still knishes - everything you could eat in New York five years ago, you can still eat in New York today," said Dr. Lynn Silver, an assistant commissioner in the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, responsible for disease prevention. "This is something we've always said: Trans fat is replaceable, it's bad for you, and once it's gone, you won't miss it."
Boston's ban is modeled on New York's and, thus, is being enforced in two phases. Right now, restaurants must eliminate margarine, frying oil, and packaged ingredients such as muffin mixes. The ban on artificial trans fat in doughnuts and cakes begins March 12.
Roger Swartz, the Boston Public Health Commission official responsible for overseeing the regulation, said the handful of restaurants found to be harboring trans fat have willingly changed their ways.
"I do feel that there is some broad level of social support because it feels like regulations aren't always so easy to enforce," Swartz said.
An owner of the sole business to face a $100 fine, Terrie's Place in South Boston, said she attempted to comply when an inspector told her she had trans fat-containing muffin mix and margarine. Terrie McManus said she immediately got rid of those products and, on an invoice sent to her margarine supplier, indicated she should not receive any products with trans fat.
But the company sent margarine with trans fat anyway, McManus said, and she failed to notice the error. "It was an honest mistake," she said, acknowledging that she should have doublechecked the new cache of margarine.
"It stinks," McManus said of the fine, adding that this has been the most financially challenging year of her restaurant's 13-year run. "I feel like there should be a grace period rather than punishing restaurants that are in dire straits right now."
Stephen Smith can be reached at stsmith@globe.com. 