City Council: Let Them Discuss Cake

If you need to know why the City Council (namely Councilwoman Joan Krajewski) is revisiting the trans fat ban, all you need to do is check out the mouthwatering CBS 3 report, which features multiple shots of donuts and makes you gain weight just by looking at it.

But City Council didn’t just buy some donuts from local bakeries and then decide to reverse the ban. No, they debated it for three hours, according to Metro’s new blog, cleverly titled Metropolis.

One of Juan Ramos’ reasons for wanting to keep the ban on artificial trans fats? Avoiding national confusion.

Councilman Juan Ramos: “Philadelphia is nationally known as a trans fat-free city, this amendment would create confusion across the country.”

Farmers in Idaho would just not know what to do if Philadelphia exempts “mom and pop” bakeries from the trans fat rules, which it’s going to do of course.

City Council Bake-Off! [Metropolis]
Local Bakers Take Trans Fat Fight To City Hall [CBS 3]

Big Cake Lobby Gets To Joan Krajewski

Last year, City Council passed a trans fat ban, which went into effect for chain restaurants last month. Trans fats are artificial fats which you probably shouldn’t eat at all, and so now-lame duck Councilman Juan Ramos proposed a bill getting rid of them. It sailed through, 17-0, and everybody except the libertarians were happy.

But then Big Cake apparently got to one City Councilwoman, and Joan Krajewski wants to get rid of the law entirely. Because when she voted for it, she didn’t know the city would be dictating what people eat, they’d only be dictating what people eat.

Failing a full reversal, Krajewski wants to exempt “mom and pop” stores, of which there are zero in all of America, from the trans fat ban. If not, the city will face a severe wedding cake shortage.

Paul Baumann has been working for 30-plus years in the family business, Mayfair Bakery on Frankford Avenue. He says he still uses trans fats in some of his baked goods, including wedding cakes: “If you want to do an elaborately decorated wedding cake with a soft cream icing, you need an icing that is firm and stable. That’s what the trans fats do. If they take the trans fats out, or they make them illegal in Philadelphia, I will have to reformulate everything that goes into a wedding cake.”

Yes, it appears Big Cake (very big, wedding cake-sized) will have its way again. Let’s just hope City Council doesn’t cave in to Big Menu, either.

Nutritional Info on Restaurant Menus? [KYW 1060]
Council Revisits Ban on Trans Fats [KYW 1060]
[Photo via Mannassas Cakery, licensed via Creative Commons]

Juan Plans To Boycott Don

With the city recently spending inordinate amounts of time on such things as the smoking ban, the trans fat ban, the tour guide regulation, the law helping old ladies cross the street and the now-tossed out blunt ban, it was only time before City Council turned its collective eye to the city’s biggest problem: Don Imus.

Yes, hot on the heels of the Get out of Iraq ballot question we all get to answer on May 15, City Councilman Juan Ramos is planning on introduce a resolution calling for a boycott of Don Imus’ show until the radio host resigns or is fired.

Of course, this wouldn’t be like the trans fat ban, as it isn’t binding in any way and people would still be able to listen to Don Imus. But, hey, if there’s an issue that’s in the news, City Council has to get involved in it. I can’t wait ’til the bill challenging the paternity test which declared Larry Birkhead Anna Nicole’s baby daddy.

Juan, not Ben, calls for end to Imus [Fight for Room 215]

Throw Jughead In The Stocks Immediately

A City Council committee debated and voted unanimously for a trans fat ban yesterday, as 17 people in City Hall continue to tell us what legal products we can’t put in our bodies.

But nevertheless, the trans fat ban would stop McDonald’s or Burger King from cooking with those disgusting, artery-clogging fats, so it’s not the worst thing in the world. Why one would want to go to Burger King or McDonald’s is a question to be left to the sages.

Unlike the smoking ban, though, there are no fines for violating the trans fat ban, scheduled to go into effect Sept. 1 if it passes the whole City Council. (It will. Nobody even came to defend it at City Council yesterday, something I wish I had gone and done.) No, there are no fines, but the penalties will even be greater:

Offenders would not face fines or penalties. Instead, [City Councilman Juan] Ramos said, they would be subjected to re-education and the possibility of public scorn.

Public scorn! Dave Thomas, Wimpy, Ronald McDonald, Mayor McCheese! (The Hamburgular is already in prison.) Put them in the stocks outside City Hall and we’ll throw tomatoes at them!

This trans fat ban is going to be awesome.

Council goes on the attack on trans fats [Inquirer]
Yesterday: Juan Ramos To Whip Us All Into Shape

Juan Ramos To Whip Us All Into Shape

Today, City Council will debate Councilman Juan Ramos’ bill banning trans fats in the city.

Trans fats are unhealthy artificial products that restaurants like to use because it gives products a longer shelf life. What they shorten the shelf life of is, ahh, your actual life. New York City recently ordered an eventual ban on trans fats, but that hasn’t stopped people from saying Philadelphia should take “the lead” on the issue: “If Philadelphia banned trans fat, that would send a signal to other cities to do it through legislation, do it through the health department ordinance, but let’s get the job done to protect the public’s health.”

The trans fat ban wouldn’t effect Twinkes and Ho-hos and other similar delicacies, but would ban trans fats from McDonald’s, Starbucks, Wendy’s and the like. Earlier this week, St. Joe’s banned trans fats from its dining halls.

It seems likely the ban will pass. And then we can all go to Burger King and order one big healthy double whopper with extra mayo.

Update, 2:35 p.m.: A City Council committee unanimously approved the trans fat ban, giving restaurants until Sept. 1 to comply. Fortunately, any place you might actually want to go to will hopefully already have moved past using trans fats.

Trans Fat Bill [Phila.gov]
Phila. City Council Considering Trans Fat Ban [KYW 1060]
Dec. 15: City Councilman Pushes For Trans Fat Ban

Councilman Ramos Delivers Belated Offering Of Myrrh

When he’s not fighting trans fats, City Councilman Juan Ramos likes to get down and boogie while celebrating the Epiphany.

Dec. 15, 2006: City Councilman Pushes For Trans Fat Ban

City Councilman Pushes For Trans Fat Ban

Looking to capitalize on the success (I guess) smoking ban — which is now on hiatus, of course — City Councilman Juan Ramos has proposed a ban on artificial trans fats.

This would be our second NYC-inspired ban, as the New York City Board of Health approved a ban earlier this month. (All NYC copied off of us was a transit strike.)

Anyway, the ban on artificial trans fats — known to clog arteries, whatever that means — would be phased in, with the full ban coming by Sept. 2008. Packaged products — say, Tastykakes — would be exempt from the ban.

Ramos says Philly should be at the forefront of health issues, even though New York already got there before us. As for the food, he says it won’t taste any differently:

“And I hear the taste does not change, so hopefully, I can still eat a good piece of fried chicken.”

Yep. A nice, healthy piece of fried chicken.

Phila. Considering Ban on Trans Fats [KYW 1060]