Calgary, Alberta will regulate trans fats

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Calgary is just hours away from becoming the first city in Canada to regulate trans fat, with new grease-fighting rules set to kick in on New Year's Day. The new rules ban restaurants in the city from cooking with oils that have a trans fat content of two per cent or higher. And margarines and spreads used in restaurants must also remain below the 2 per cent threshold. The artery-clogging trans fats have become a top target of health advocates in recent years, but Calgary is the first Canadian municipality to set limits -- following the example of Chicago and New York. Inspectors will be visiting restaurants in the coming months to ensure they are within compliance, and will work with the facilities to ensure they can meet the requirements. Though the vegetable-based oils that meet the lower transfat content rules are often more expensive, the higher cost will be absorbed by the fact the healthier oils don't need to be changed as often. According to the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada, the consumption of trans fats accounts for between 3,000 and 5,000 deaths every year in Canada alone. Trans fat occurs naturally in low levels in some animal-based foods. However, it is also generated when liquid oils are turned into semi-solid fats such as margarine. Trans fat has been linked to obesity, clogged arteries and high cholesterol. I think such policies should be instituted in more cities around the world. We know that trans fats aren't good for us and yet they are still in the foods we eat (although in much less quantities than a few years before). Do such regulations exist where you live? Do you think more places should ahve such regulations?