Calgary's trans fat ban fizzles

Calgary was the first city in the country to ban trans fats, but a massive overhaul of Alberta's health system means restaurants can once again put them on the menu.

Health inspectors in Calgary are no longer checking restaurants to see if they have broken a rule that required all margarines, spreads made with margarine, and oils used for cooking contain a maximum of two per cent trans fat in the total fat content.

The Calgary Health Region's regulation kicked in on Jan. 1, 2008.

Five months later, the Alberta government dissolved all of the province's health authorities to make way for the new Alberta Health Services Board.

Alberta Health Services Board spokesman Bruce Conway confirmed Thursday that health inspectors in Calgary are no longer enforcing the trans fat rule because there is no similar provincewide regulation.

The province's Health Minister Ron Liepert said Alberta is working with Health Canada on a national trans fat strategy, but he hopes restaurants voluntarily move away from trans fats.

"The reason that [the trans fat regulation] is not being enforced in Calgary is because I think … it would be unfair to be having one set of rules in one part of the province and the rest of the province not operating under the same set of rules," Liepert said.

Will restaurants revert?

Andy Taylor, the senior vice-president of the Joey's Only seafood chain, said he doesn't expect city restaurants to revert to old ways.

"I can't see why a restaurant would change back at this point. I think the health effects are well known and well understood and I don't know why anyone would switch back to a trans fat in the restaurant business," he said.

Taylor said Joey's Only moved away from trans fats well before the Calgary Health Region's regulations kicked in and it didn't cost any more to use healthier fats in the chain's foods.

Liberal MLA David Swann said he was disappointed to learn that health inspectors were no longer enforcing the trans fat regulations.

"It was a progressive policy," he said. "I hope the Alberta Health Services Board will move quickly to make it a provincial standard."

Trans fats raise the levels of low-density lipoprotein, or "bad" cholesterol, in the body and can lead to clogged arteries and heart disease.

The Heart & Stroke Foundation has estimated that consumption of trans fats accounts for 3,000 to 5,000 deaths a year in Canada.