Since March 2003, New York City has banned smoking in nearly all of its restaurants, bars and other workplaces. Next month, the city’s board of health will vote on whether or not to ban restaurants from serving foods that contain more than a minimal amount of trans fats.

The ban is intended to save lives by reducing the public’s risk of heart disease. Trans fats are often found in baked goods such as cakes, doughnuts and breads, and salad dressing.

Should other cities follow suit? To read more about the issue, visit the New York City Board of Health’s Web page at http://home2.nyc.gov/html/doh/html/cardio/cardio-transfat.shtml [1].

(Jorge Sosa is a staff writer for the Hutchinson Leader. He can be reached at sosa@hutchinsonleader.com [2])