Ohio proposal would block local restrictions on fast food

Associated Press

DAYTON

A provision added to the state budget bill would prevent local-level officials in Ohio from enacting bans such as those on artery- clogging trans fats in fast food restaurants.

The provision, which was part of the budget bill passed by the Ohio Senate, prohibits any local legislation that restricts a food service operation because it is characterized as fast food. Lawmakers from the Ohio House and Senate are still working out differences between their versions of the two-year spending blueprint and were scheduled to meet again Sunday.

The Ohio Restaurant Association sought the amendment to keep cities from creating a patchwork of regulations that could make it tough for chains of restaurants to operate consistently in different areas, but opponents of the change say it undercuts cities’ abilities to respond to the needs and preferences of their regions, the Dayton Daily News reported.

“Nationally, over the past few years, industry analysts have observed an increasing trend among activists to persuade local governments to enact ordinances regulating the restaurant industry and hampering restaurant operators from managing their establishments,” restaurant association spokesman Jarrod Clabaugh said. That burdens restaurants by forcing them to adjust their menus and their advertising and could deter some from opening here, he said.

The change apparently could overturn a Cleveland ban on serving foods with trans fats in restaurants, which takes effect in that city in 2013, and some local-level officials in Ohio are concerned the provision could limit municipalities’ abilities to respond to health crises.

“We as a city get a bit annoyed when people at the state level decide on a one-size-fits-all approach that they think is best for people in Dayton,” Dayton City Commissioner Matt Joseph told the newspaper.

Dan Young, a restaurant owner north of Yellow Springs in southwest Ohio, said he has stopped using oils that contain trans fats in his restaurants, despite the extra thousands of dollars it costs him, because “it’s the right thing to do.” But he supports the fast food provision added to the budget bill.