Men’s Fitness Magazine proclaimed Chicago the “fattest city in the nation”. Earlier this year, Chicago banned the sale of fois gras. Now, Alderman Ed Burke, is pressing his colleagues to make it illegal for restaurants to use oils that contain trans fats.
If approved, nutrition experts say, the ban will be the first in a major city, following the lead of towns like Tiburon, Calif., just north of San Francisco, where restaurant owners have voluntarily given up the oils. In truth, while the proposal’s prospects are uncertain, Chicago officials have been on a bit of a banning binge these days in what critics mock as City Hall’s effort to micromanage residents’ lives in mundane ways.”
A restaurateur offers another opinion.
“I probably would be in a pickle if they outlaw it,” said Dolores Reynolds, the owner of Army & Lou’s, a soul food restaurant on the city’s South Side for more than 60 years and a favorite eating spot of many politicians, including the late Mayor Harold Washington.
Over the years, Ms. Reynolds said, she has watched as people have made their own health choices. Some, for instance, now pick the herb-baked chicken over the more popular fried.
“If they want to have herb-baked chicken five days a week and then fried chicken on Sunday as a treat, I don’t think you should write anybody a ticket,” Ms. Reynolds said. “That’s called a choice.”
You can read the entire article in the NY Times, by clicking here
So much for Chicago as a food destination if that goes through. What will Rick Bayless do?
I’m not a Portlander, but if I were, I would already be cornering the councilmen in dark alleys letting them know what would happen if they even consider something this inane.
Oh yeah — Tiburon only has like 10 restaurants, and I don’t think any aren’t upscale. The Mexican one on the waterfront isn’t bad, but not good enough that I can remember its name. Great views of the city though.
I think an unfortunate unintended consequence of Chicago’s action is that enforcement may affect mostly restaurants run by and catering to the city’s ethnic communities.
sooo….if you render duck rat from a duck leg and self braise the meat with it, does it count? what if you take that same rendered fat, and fry some shoestrings potatoes in it?
or does this only apply to commercially bought oils?
twinkies use beef tallow – will they outlaw twinkies? why give global corporate food concerns a pass?
also, mcdonalds at this point still uses oil with trans fats…will Chicago get tough and start with the most egregious offender with the most reach (by far)?
i thought not.
This is a joke, right? Or is it just one more example of the inability of the American public to take on one ounce of personal responsibility? When Chicago bans the sales of all tobacco products, they’ll be on to something.
Are you telling me that all of the great Chicago dog stands will have to find substitute ingredients? Will Weiner’s Circle be dousing the fries with that nasty cheese sauce “under the table?” No lard in Mexican food? I bet even Rick Bayliss uses his fair share of lard at Frontera Grill.
All I can say is, what a bunch of weiners.
Ellie – Nope, not a joke.
The city coucil in Chicago has become more and more nannyish. They just passed a law to make all companies with $1 billion revenue and more than 90,000 square feet pay a minimum wage of $10 or more, too. Why McDonald’s because it has less square footage and pays less property tax should be excluded while Wal-Mart and Cost-Co and Home Depot shouldn’t, I’m not sure. They’ve also outlawed smoking in restaurants. I believe the the law against trans-fats has a minimum size for the establishment, so a place like Army & Lou’s (great fried catfish) is probably exempt. This is primarily to go after the fast food industry. Also, I don’t believe rendered animal fats have much trans-fat. We’re talking mostly about hydrogenated oils here, like things made with Crisco and margarine. I’d hate to try to keep kosher in Chicago after this.
Pollo; I do not usually seek modified foods but this ‘duck rat’ you speak of interests me. I’m attending a party soon and am wondering what to bring? Recipes anyone?
Yum, duck rat! This was always a favorite of mine during my time in a French prison camp. They liked to serve it over red potatoes with a framboise reduction with rosemary and thyme.
It looks like a duck and quacks like a duck…but alas, it’s a rat. And damn delicious!
And if you force feed it grain alchohol and corn nuts, and massage it daily, its bloated liver tastes like a cross between foie gras and kobe beef.
The tails make a good substitute for tagliatelli if you are on a low-carb diet.
Update to the NY Times article: Chicago Sun-Times reports on July 19th, that a “watered down” version of the Ordinance has been presented to City Aldermen that limits trans fats “only at establishments owned by companies with at least $20 million in annual gross sales.”
MSG is correct, this means that its the big national greasy guys like Krappy Fried Chickie, Long Burnt Slivers, Burger Thing, Pizza Slut, etc. that will need to change their ingredients and not smaller mom and pop, fine dining, or most ethnic restaurants. Whew. Just don’t be taking away my Mr. Beef at North Orleans St., or any of the Superdawg locations. Then I’d surely be pissed.
At worst this proposed law is oppressive social engineering, at the very least it’s just a misguided public health attempt to address a pretty serious health issue in our country.
On the other side of the greasy coin, it might actually be a good thing for dining in Chicago. We might start seeing an increase in small locally owned neighborhood restaurants (like the above mentioned) that can actually compete financially with the big chains, or even more regional Chicago specialties. Who knows?
Just playing devil’s advocate though on this one. I actually think this proposed law is pretty stupid.
That is one more reason I am glad I don’t live in Chicago. The Foie gras ban pissed me off enough, now this is just plain silly. Is the next law going to mandate the particular way you wipe your butt? Come on…
I don’t think this law necessarily only targets the big fast food chains — how is “companies with annual gross sales of $20M” defined? Local chains (think Pizzicato/Sal’s, with 20 or so locations plus catering) and small upscale restaurant empires (Bayless, with two very popular upscale joints in Chicago and the Frontera food products company) could have that much in sales when all business units are accounted for. I’m not sure why a law that potentially punishes success is a good idea.
CBF makes an interesting point about this law allowing small mom and pops to compete financially with the larger businesses, but I don’t see that. If this law were to go into effect, the affected businesses, especially the chains which already have significant buying power for inputs, will be able to get their volume discounts and apply any increases over a large number of units sold. For something as common as cooking oils and the like, the actual monetary effect will be minimal on that end. Of course if consumers don’t like the change in taste that’s another issue.
I’m not a lawyer, but I think the first lawyer who brings suit saying that telling only a certain group of businesses what legally obtainable inputs they can use has some commerce clause issues will be the one who can say they fought the city and won.
S,
Do you work for the Oregon Legislature down there in Salemville? ‘Cause you make a pretty damn good political argument.
It is such a fallible ordinance on many fronts. No doubt it is inequitable from an economic development and a business perspective and will get tied up in a legal and bureaucratic muddle for years. The cost alone in having to implement and regulate it seems inefficient and wasteful. As an already cranky tax payer, I would be furious.
Regardless, it will be interesting to see how it plays out. It’s quite a landmark case if you think about it. Could be Supreme Court material.
When did Chicago become so Gerry Brown era California anyway?
And what the hell does this and the fois gras ban say about our current culture and political climate?
What’s next?
Shudder.
Weird times we are living in, that’s for sure.
The ordinance MSG referred to hasn’t yet passed but is scheduled fpr a vote. The Illinois min wage is $6.50. This ordinance would not only require big box retailers to pay a $10/hr minimum wage, they would also have to pay an additional $3.hr in benefits. Sounds like being the greeter at Wal-Mart just became a union job.
Trans-fats don’t exist in nature. The are created when basically good, healthy oils are partially hydrogenated. My bottle of Wesson canola oil has no trans fats.
Oils are partially hydrogentated to:
raise the melting point so that they stay solid at room temperature e.g. Crisco and margarine.
extend the shelf life of baked goods made with these oils
extend the life of “fryer oil”
Natural fats=good
trans fats=bad
Chicage city council=effing nutz
CBF –
I don’t work for the legislature, but I do spend my days in the service of the people doing policy wonkish stuff.
Knowing a little about the histroy of politics in Chicago, I can’t imagine that the ordinance would be enforced in a non-arbitrary way. Also, with the fines set so high (200-1000/day), that leaves alot of room for payouts to inspectors and aldermen — how much is $1,000 a month to a busy McDonald’s location? Not that there is any corruption in Chicago. Never. Perish the thought.
Stuff made with Crisco is yummy. I especially like chocolate chip cookies made with it instead of butter. Weird eh?
I don’t have time this morning to get into just how bad an idea the wage ordinance is.
Just so I get this right. The roads are all paved, the hospitals all funded and all children are getting an adequate education in Chicago? Cause otherwise, what the heck business does the city council have getting involved in this petty stuff and taking their eyes off the reason we have municipal governments!
PS – Singingpig is correct. Transfats don’t occur at measurable levels in nature. That by itself is enough reason for any thinking person to object to being fed them. That said, we have the right to eat whatever we want. I only object when the stuff is put into my food and I don’t know it.
for some reason i thought trans fat was any fat that was solid at room temperature, not just hydrogenated fats. thx for the knowledge, singingpig. i actually used google and read up on it (me can type!).
I had assumed Dolores Reynolds (runs the soul food place mentioned in the article) was flummoxed because she fried her chicken in lard…but in reality she should be worried about her pie?
Transfats don’t occur at measurable levels in nature. That by itself is enough reason for any thinking person to object to being fed them.
You going to give up chocolate too? Raw cacao beans aren’t the tastiest things on earth :)
From a recent blog entry by Robb Walsh:
“In 1900, the average American’s life expectancy was 49.2 years. Americans got lots of exercise through manual labor. They ate organic fruit and vegetables because synthetic fertilizers and pesticides hadn’t been invented yet. Unhealthy fast foods like hamburgers hadn’t been invented yet either.
By 2001, life expectancy for Americans had risen to 77.2 years–a gain of 28 years over a hundred years ago!”
Speaking of cities and weird things, what is that giant Soviet-style structure going up next to I-5 by the river? Some sort of weird transfat radar?
S,
I do believe it’s the trans-fat Arial Tram! Appropriately, it will connect OHSU Hospital with the new South Waterfront District by the river.
Also, “Stuff made with Crisco is yummy. I especially like chocolate chip cookies made with it instead of butter. Weird eh?”
Not really. I have a theory that all high-end food folks also have a secret favorite trans-fat laden junky food or two they would be loathe admitting to in good company. Mine are Bugles. You know, those fried hydrogenated salty corn treats shaped like horns? God, they are nasty, and filled with nothing but bad fat and chemicals, but sometimes I just crave them. My sister’s favorite junk food is a grilled American cheese sandwich on white bread, slathered with butter (or margarine) on the outside, mayo on the inside, and stuffed pre-frying with BOTH sliced dill pickle rounds AND Lays brand potato chips. Sick, and stoner food for sure, but I’ve tried it and can report it’s actually pretty tasty.
Don’t quote me on this, but I’ve heard the tower is a monument to Pork Fat. On the other hand, I’ve also heard it will support the new Portland symbol, two Oreo cookies, which are also loaded with fat.
Good news! My bag of Lay’s says ” 0 grams transfat”
Since I am probably almost as old as Food Dude, I had been buying some kinda margarine non transfat stuff for several years in hopes of extending the life of my heart. Last year I just switched to butter. No transfat and I just feel happier buttering my toast with actual butter.
I admit it privately (hello? is this thing on?) but not publically that I still use crisco in my pie crusts and in my blueberry muffins. Both recipes came from many generations back and I just can’t seem to get the same results using butter/crisco or just butter. So, don’t tell anyone, but they probably wouldn’t really care since the aforementioned muffins and pies typically disappear quickly during my dinner parties. :-)
I’ve found the best alternative to Crisco is lard. Hope you’re not trying to keep kosher. Crisco used to advertise directly to Jews and even wrote a kosher cookbook:
http://www.crisco.com/about/history/1930.asp
I wonder how PETA and their ilk are responding to the trans fat revelations. They can’t see this as good for cows. People aren’t going to start putting olive oil on their toast. It’s going to make vegan pastries a lot tougher to make.
I’m not sure if you choose to be vegan you deserve to have pastries. Not being judgemental or anything :)
Lard is not welcome in our house on order of my wife. She doesn’t keep kosher, but she doesn’t purposefully eat pork either. Of course if our favorite Mexican places use lard, well that’s just something we live with!
Julia Child really was right that butter is better than that “other” spread. She just didn’t know how right.
In response to the grilled cheese part of CBF’s comment — I love grilled cheese, and currently my favorite is with rye bread and tillamook pepper jack cheese, made in my well seasoned 8″ calphalon pan. Which reminds me, I should probably wash that pan.