For Restaurateurs, Trans Fat Classes Start in June

The city's health department is launching a "Trans Fat Help Center" to assist restaurants in eliminating the artificial oils and shortenings and to comply with its soon-to-be implemented ban.

Starting in June, the trans fat school, which will be housed in New York City College of Technology, will offer free classes on cooking and baking with new ingredients and on whipping up healthy versions of ethnic cuisines.

The city is also bringing in chefs and managers from well-know eateries such as Shun Lee, Union Square Café, Tom Cat Bakery to act as consultants to other restaurateurs who have questions.

The school will be part of a three-pronged program to help eateries get ready for the ban. The first phase goes into effect July 1. A new Web site, notransfatnyc.org, and a hotline at which restaurants can get clarifications on the regulations and advice on how to adjust their recipes are also being launched.

The trans fat ban, the first of its kind in any major American city, was masterminded the city's health commissioner, Dr. Thomas Frieden, and passed into law despite protests from the restaurant industry that it would be burdensome to implement.

The executive vice president of the New York State Restaurant Association, Charles Hunt, that while he was not in favor of a mandatory ban, the new center was a positive move because "we need all the help we can get."

"McDonald's had a building of scientists working on coming up with substitutes, but the coffee shop owner in Queens doesn't have that," Mr. Hunt said. The city is expected to pay about $200,000 for the new programs in addition to the money it is getting in private grants.