Baltimore leaders are poised to approve a ban on trans fats in restaurant food, putting the city on the front edge of a trend that supporters argue will reduce the incidence of heart disease.
The ban, introduced in the City Council in January, has picked up momentum in recent days, facing surprisingly little opposition and gaining the support of Mayor Sheila Dixon.
Baltimore officials wrestled for more than a year over a smoking ban for restaurants and bars - legislation ultimately approved - but are embracing the proposal to ban trans fats with relative speed.
"This is a movement," said the ban's chief sponsor, City Councilwoman Agnes Welch, who has cast the measure as part of a larger crusade to reduce childhood obesity. "This is a call to action to save our children."
The bill follows trans fat bans enacted in Philadelphia, New York City and Montgomery County. Any prepared food product containing partially hydrogenated vegetable oil - such as shortening or margarine - would be prohibited by the legislation.
After a two-hour hearing last night that included testimony from about a half-dozen people, the City Council's Public Safety and Health Committee voted 3-0 to advance the bill to the full council. It faces at least two more votes.
Last night's debate was sharply different from a 2006 hearing on the smoking ban - which was contentious and continued long into the evening - even though banning trans fats raises the same questions for many people about the government's role in regulating what was once a matter of personal choice.
Welch, in fact, raised those same questions early last year when she chose to abstain from voting on the smoking ban. "I think the state should step up, because it's unfair for us to penalize our people in the city who want to smoke and want that choice," she said from the council floor at that time.
Some have said opposition to the trans fat bill might be light because many restaurants - including fast-food chains - are moving away from the ingredients on their own.
Edward Dopkin, who owns several Baltimore restaurants, including Alonso's and Miss Shirley's - which, he said, do not use trans fats - handed out cookies and snacks to council members at the hearing. His point: The ban does nothing to address trans fats in packaged food sold in corner stores and gas stations.
"If you're going to do it, I don't understand why everyone shouldn't be included," he said. "You're looking the other way on all of the other products."
