California Bans Restaurants From Using Trans Fats

On Friday, California became the first state to ban the use of trans fats in restaurants . Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a legislation that will ban restaurants and other retail food establishments from using oil, margarine, and shortening that contains trans fats.
This legislation would start to take effect on January 1, 2010. Restaurants that violate the ban could face fines between $25 and $1,000 and the only exception would be food that is sold in manufactures' sealed packaging. Both California and Oregon already have laws that ban trans fat from being served in schools.

Trans fats are naturally in meat and dairy products in small amounts. Most trans fats are made when vegetable oil is treated with hydrogen to make baked and fried foods have a longer shelf life. Trans fats are considered bad because they are supposedly linked to coronary heart disease.

McDonald’s Tries New Feng Shui Design

In California, a McDonald’s restaurant has gotten rid of the plastic furniture and red and yellow design to go for a Feng Shui style with leather seats, earth tone colors, bamboo plants, and water trickling down glass panels. The change is supposed to help their customers achieve happiness and fortune. Feng Shui is the ancient Chinese practice of arranging things and numbers to promote health, harmony, and prosperity.

The design is suppose to create a soothing setting and encourage customers to return. The new design has doors positioned in a way to block out bad spirits and keep good spirits inside. There are eight rows of red tiles near the food counter that symbolize fortune because the number eight is considered auspicious. There are metal sculptures of a crane and Koi fish on one wall that represents fertility and prosperity.

Mississippi Restaurants Banning Fat People

The Mississippi legislature is seriously considering a bill that would ban restaurants from serving food to very overweight people. The law would revoke the license of any restaurant that continues to serve the people. The state currently has a 30 percent obesity rate and they think that they could reduce that by not serving people that are very overweight.

Google Added to Gas Pumps

Starting next month, gas pumps will include an Internet connection that will have Google’s mapping service in color on a small screen. People will be able to get driving directions and look through several categories to find local landmarks, hotels, restaurants, and hospitals.

After a person selects a destination, the pump will print out the directions. Someday, they may have it where a person could type in a specific address and get directions.

In the beginning, they plan to have the service at 3,500 gas pumps and then expand if there is a more of a demand. Google wants to do this because they want to make their services available whenever and wherever people would need it.