Boston suburb bans trans fatsBoston suburb bans trans fats

BROOKLINE Mass. Brookline, a suburb of Boston, has become the first municipality in Massachusetts to ban artificial trans fats from restaurant and school fare.

Town Meeting members voted 194 to 11 to require Brookline's 200 foodservice establishments to switch to trans-fat free oils for frying by Nov. 30, 2008, and eliminate their use in baked goods by April 30, 2009. Packaged foods that list trans fat oil content on labels are exempt from the ordinance.

Similar bans have been considered in Boston and Cambridge, and the Massachusetts legislature's Joint Committee on Public Health is expected to consider a statewide ban.

Trans-fat bans have been passed in New York and Philadelphia. New York's ban on frying oils containing trans fats is set to take effect July 1.