The adage "when it rains it pours" is befitting for food and tobacco conglomerate Altria Group Inc. Only days after its Philip Morris tobacco business was socked with a lawsuit concerning "light" cigarettes, the city of New York is threatening to forbid the sale of foods with trans fats, an unsaturated fat believed to increase coronary heart disease. Earlier in the week, the New York City Board of Health voted unanimously to prohibit the restaurants from serving food that contains artificial trans fats — trans fats naturally occur in red meat, but are artificially produced in some processed foods. The news could have an adverse impact on Altria's plan to spin off its 88% stake in Kraft Foods. While Kraft has been busy reformulating its products to eliminate trans fats, some of its products still have traces of it. While the ban would only forbid the sale of food with trans fats at restaurants and not retail stores, in time, the city could extend the ban — especially as other cities follow suit. After all, New York is not alone. A similar ban is being debated in Chicago. Don't be surprised if cities like San Francisco and Cambridge, Mass. follow suit too. Also, the ban would set a precedent that could be extended to other questionable ingredients like high-fructose corn syrup, sodium and various other fats. Just imagine what a fat-free, sodium-free Ritz cracker would taste like. Luckily for Kraft, most New Yorkers are not enthused by the Board of Health's plan, which is now open to public debate. A final vote by the board, whose rulings do not need the mayor's approval, will be held in December. Of course, Altria has already delayed its spinoff of Kraft because of the latest cigarette suit. —Matthew Wurtzel
See story about Kraft spinoff from The Chicago Tribune
See story about ban from The New York Times
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