LANSING – State Representative Lee Gonzales (D-Flint Township) today introduced four bills aimed at regulating artificial trans fat in Michigan. This life-threatening, industrially produced fat has been linked to such severe health problems as diabetes, obesity, Alzheimer's disease, age-related macular degeneration (the most common cause of blindness) and clogging of the arteries.
"I want to get the conversation going here in Michigan that trans fat does cause serious health complications," said Gonzales. "This pervasive issue is not going away unless we deal with it head on. It's time to strike while the iron is hot and my legislation is intended to do just that."
- House Bill 4194 requires all Michigan restaurants to indicate which food items contain artificial trans fat and include a state-established warning on their menus and table tents.
- House Bill 4195 would phase out the use of artificial trans fat in Michigan restaurants that are owned or franchised by a person having 20 or more locations.
- House Bill 4196 would phase out the use of artificial trans fat in Michigan restaurants statewide.
- House Bill 4197 would require state agencies, when awarding contracts to contractors that operate public cafeterias in state facilities, to give preference to those contractors that provide foods of higher nutritional value and that do not provide food containing artificial trans fat.
Study after study has linked trans fats to increased "bad" cholesterol, decreased "good" cholesterol, heart disease and fatal heart attacks. The top nutritionists at Harvard estimate that replacing artificial trans fat with a healthier option would prevent from 30,000 to 100,000 premature deaths every year.
This is the first attempt to regulate trans fat in Michigan. New York City was the first city to phase out trans fat in restaurants in December 2006, and now many other cities and states are looking into legislation of their own to phase out artificial trans fat.