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Cannolis, poundcakes and pastries will still fly off the shelves this year — due to the high demand from patrons. And local mom-and-pop bakeries can breathe a sigh of relief: trans fat is still on the menu.
After a 16-1 vote in City Council Oct. 25 — the only "nay" coming from Councilman-at-Large Juan Ramos — Philadelphia bakeries with no more than three locations are exempt from the citywide ban of the additive made from partially hydrogenated plant oils that went into effect for all eating establishments Sept. 1 and was slated to hit bakeries a year later.
The bill is awaiting the signature of Mayor John Street, but even if the legislation gets a veto, as long as 12 Council members override his decision, the bill still passes.
Calls to Street’s office were not returned by press time.
For the high number of such establishments in the area whose owners feared a change to time-honored recipes, many passed down through generations, the ruling has been well-received.
Gus Sarno, whose family owns Isgro Pasticceria, 1009 Christian St., said while he’s glad his century-old business won’t have to reformulate its methods, Council’s proposal to ban the ingredient commonly associated with health problems wasn’t needed in the first place.
"If they want to do something to help citizens of Philadelphia, attacking trans fat in small bakeries is not the way to do it," he said. "If they want to attack somebody, go after the big corporations. There’s a million things Council could go after to help citizens live a better life, but coming after us for trans fat? C’mon. The problem is they’re directing it wrong. People eat Twinkies by the billions; They don’t eat my cannolis by the billions."
The exemption was proposed by 6th District Councilwoman Joan Krajewski, who voted in favor of the original ban, but felt small businesses would suffer financially because the quality of their products would become erratic.
"This was a win for the little guy — the mom-and-pop bakeries that have been around for generations," Krajewski said in a press release issued the day the amendment passed in Council. "Asking these bakeries to change their time-honored recipes is like asking grandmom to change her gravy recipe. Besides, people buy bakery items for special occasions and events, it’s not an everyday purchase. They eat the items in moderation."
Josh Cohen, chief deputy of staff for Ramos, sponsor of the original ban, said the councilman respects the votes of his fellow members, but hopes bakeries will take it upon themselves to inform customers of products that are trans-fat free by posting signs. The councilman proposed an amendment to Krajewski’s bill requiring bakeries to indicate which products contain the ingredient, but it was defeated in the Public Health and Human Services Committee before it could move to Council, Cohen said.
"He voted against [the bakery exemption] because he believes it’s a health issue, that all establishments should abide by the law," Cohen said. "We believe there are alternatives that could be used that wouldn’t change the quality of the recipe — people testified to that."
According to Sarno, who spoke in opposition to the ban at a Council hearing, using an alternative is not as simple as it sounds. "If the manufacturers provided us with the shortening that we needed to make the product the way it is now, I’d be happy to change," he said "What they have [as an alternative] has palm oil in it. The FDA wanted us to stop using that 20 years ago because it’s high in fat."
As for posting what’s in his pastries, Sarno said, "Would I do it? Sure, my customers know what I have in here, if they want me to put a sign in my window, I’d put a sign in my window.
"There’s a lot of things that aren’t good for us, but my God we’re adults! We can make decisions for ourselves. If they think my product is bad, don’t buy it. A lot of my products are trans-fat free. I don’t advertise it, but it’s what I have to do to make it correct."
Also in Council, 1st District Councilman Frank DiCicco’s bill proposing a ban of plastic bags in supermarkets and pharmacies underwent a public hearing Oct. 24 organized by the plastics industry in opposition to the bill. According to DiCicco spokesman Brian Abernathy, the bill has been held and most likely won’t come out of committee before the end of the year, in which case it would have to be re-introduced when the new Council comes on board in January.
A companion bill to DiCicco’s ban proposed by Councilman-at-Large James Kenney banning polystyrene — commonly known as Styrofoam — used for packing material in the city is dead, though the portion proposing a ban on the use of polystyrene containers by food vendors is still on the table. Abernathy said it, too, will most likely not move any further by year’s end.
Abernathy said the delay for DiCicco’s bill is not a setback, but rather an advantage.
"We knew it was going to be a controversial issue," he said. "We’d rather get it done right than rush something through. We agreed that more discussion needs to be had."
