Business leery as Calgary aims to ban trans fats

CALGARY (CP) - Calgary may be known as Fat Cat City for its booming economy, but it could soon be the first Canadian municipality to trim artery-clogging artificial trans fats off menus and eventually out of grocery stores.

The Calgary Health Region, which includes a large rural area including Banff and Lake Louise, has decided to move ahead on a local level after Ottawa decided it would allow business another two years to make voluntary changes on eliminating trans fats.

"We felt uncomfortable with that timeline giving the impact trans fats are having on heart disease," said Dr. Brent Friesen, the region's chief medical officer.

"We're keeping Health Canada informed of our initiative, but we feel there are benefits of making this a requirement," he said. "The experience of other jurisdictions have found that voluntary approaches have not been as effective as requiring people to make changes."

While virtually all the attention on trans fats has been health related, the issue has huge ramifications for Canadian business.

Friesen wants all restaurants in the Calgary Health Region - home to about 1.3 million people - to use trans-fat-free cooking oil by Jan. 1, 2008.

A ban on trans fats in all foods, such as packaged baking, could come into effect as early as Oct. 1, 2008. That move is far more contentious, as it applies to any place which requires a food permit: from super sized grocery stores to specialty delis or mom and pop convenience stores.

The food services industry, which pumps $51 billion a year into the Canadian economy, supports eliminating trans fats. But those changes need to come on a national level first and Calgary's timeline can't be met, says spokesman Ron Reaman.

"Our food comes from across the country and around the world." said Reaman, vice president of the Canadian Restaurant and Foodservices Association, which represents more than 34,000 businesses.

"The idea that you can actually implement some sort of local municipal ban, while well intentioned, we just don't think it's feasible," Reaman said from Toronto. "Does that mean every store and restaurant in Calgary is only going to be allowed to buy foods that are manufactured and certified in Calgary?"

The vast of majority of packaged groceries, fresh meat and produce arrive at supermarkets through national or international distribution systems.

Reaman has not seen the specifics of the Calgary plan and has asked the health region for details so his organization can provide input into the implementation.

Friesen says he has spoken with institutional suppliers for southern Alberta and been told that it's possible for restaurants to have access to enough canola oil to make the Jan. 1 implementation possible.

Canola oil is trans-fat free and has the lowest amount of saturated fat of any culinery oil in the marketplace.

But Reaman says it's important to co-ordinate such a plan with farmers to ensure more seeds are planted to have enough supply for the entire country. And that takes time.

Earlier this month, New York City became the first municipality in the United States to ban trans fat-laden cooking oils. And despite initial opposition to the plan, most fast food chains complied with the shift.

Toronto, Ottawa and Vancouver are all watching Calgary's experience with interest, to see if the plan can work at a local level.

Calgary will be adopting the recommendations of the national trans fat task force and Friesen said food manufacturers should start to study the list and make changes.

"If you get four or five large population centres in the country going in this way, it becomes a significant part of the market," he said. "It's probably a business decision on their part. They take the chance of losing market share in a particular area (if) one of their competitors comes up with a trans-fat-free alternative."

Some national chains aren't waiting for regulations. Starbucks Corp. announced in May that artificial trans fats will be removed from its drinks and food by the end of the year. The self-imposed ban will apply to Starbucks in Canada and the United States.

Wendy's International Inc., McDonald's Corp. and Burger King Holdings Inc. also are phasing out trans fats.

Friesen acknowledges the second ban, on groceries, will be a lot more difficult to implement. But he stresses that he wants to work with industry on healthier options and do as much as possible to ensure the changes aren't costly.

And he says this isn't the first move towards a food police state, where decadent desserts or high-fat burgers are on the banned list.

"There's still going to be pie and ice cream on menus - we're not saying those can't be on menus," said Friesen. "But we want people informed as to the nutritional value of those items."