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A MEMORIAL

REQUESTING THE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPROVEMENT BOARD TO STUDY WAYS

TO IDENTIFY THE TRANS FAT CONTENT IN RESTAURANT FOOD AND

CONVEY THIS INFORMATION TO CUSTOMERS AND TO DEVELOP GUIDELINES

FOR USE OF TRANS FATS.

WHEREAS, trans fat is a chemically created fat that is

unhealthy for human consumption; and

WHEREAS, trans fat consumption should be kept as low as

possible, according to the 2005 dietary guidelines for

Americans, the American heart association, the American

diabetes association, the world health organization and the

national cholesterol education program; and

WHEREAS, consumption of trans fat raises bad cholesterol

levels and lowers good cholesterol levels, causing arteries to

become clogged and increasing the risk of developing heart

disease and stroke, and is linked to obesity; and

WHEREAS, heart disease is the number one killer in the

nation and New Mexico; and

WHEREAS, the annual death rate for heart disease in New

Mexico is one hundred seventy-seven per one hundred thousand

people, and at least sixty percent of New Mexico adults are

overweight or obese; and

WHEREAS, at least twenty-seven percent of New Mexico

high school students and twenty-four percent of children aged

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two to five are overweight; and

WHEREAS, obesity acquired during childhood and

adolescence is likely to persist into adulthood and increase

the risk for a number of chronic diseases; and

WHEREAS, the food and drug administration now requires

food companies to list trans fat content separately on the

nutrition panel of all packaged foods, and nutrition labels

now list any measurable amount of trans fat in a separate line

on the total fat section under saturated fat; and

WHEREAS, trans fats used in cooking are not as easily

assessed as those on packaged food labels; and

WHEREAS, lawmakers in at least thirteen states and

numerous cities have enacted or introduced some kind of trans

fat legislation; and

WHEREAS, some restaurant chains have voluntarily

eliminated trans fats, as have the Ohio state university

campus and the girl scouts;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF

REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the

environmental improvement board be requested to join with the

New Mexico restaurant association study ways to identify the

trans fat content in restaurant food and to convey this

information to customers; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the environmental

improvement board be requested to develop workable guidelines

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for the restaurant industry on ridding foods of trans fat and

on recommended limits of trans fat content; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be

transmitted to the chair of the environmental improvement

board, the secretary of health and the New Mexico restaurant

association.