Loews Hotel in Annapolis made a resolution to serve healthier food.
The hotel is moving forward with a plan announced in December to ban trans fats from its restaurant, bar, room service and minibars.
Trans fats are often found in vegetable shortenings, margarine, cookies, crackers and other snack foods.
They increase cholesterol levels, putting people who consume them at a greater risk for chronic heart disease, said the Food and Drug Administration.
The fat is formed when manufacturers add hydrogen to vegetable oil. It increases the shelf life and flavor stability, said the FDA.
Lowes is the first hotel chain in the nation to help prevent heart disease by eliminating the harmful fats, said hotel spokeswoman Emily Goldfisher.
“We just wanted to be mindful of our guests, and make sure we are thinking of their health. We want to give them the highest quality of food available,” said the executive chef for the Annapolis Loews, Allison Trinkle.
The chain has 18 locations across the nation and in Canada, said Goldfisher.
The historic Annapolis branch, located on West Street, is the only Maryland location.
Cooks at the hotel?s restaurant, Breeze, may have to switch from margarine to butter when creating dishes like its pecan-crusted trout, Tinkle said.
Snack foods like Famous Amos cookies and Ritz Bits crackers will be removed from its minibars and replaced with other snacks.
The measure will be phased in between February and June.
A coffee shop inside the hotel will not be required to comply with the measure because it is rented to an outside vendor.
An effort to ban the harmful fats is gaining momentum in the nation. The New York City Board of Health has banned restaurants in the city from using trans fats. All food in the city must comply by July 2008.
