Call this a sort of Friday Free-for-all...an assortment of news to end the week:

If you're concerned about food safety, you're far from alone. A study released today shows about two-thirds (63 percent) of all U.S. adults are extremely or very concerned with the cleanliness of restaurants where they eat. That's about 140 million adults.

Women are more likely to be concerned than men, and adults ages 35 and over are more likely to be concerned than those ages 18 to 34.
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Great news! Taco Bell is joining the trend against trans fats. Testing of the new canola oil began two years ago, and the company says the transition is already complete in one hundred restaurants.

The nation's largest Mexican quick-serve chain, Taco Bell uses the oils to fry its nachos, taco salad shells, potatoes, chalupa shells, and other items. All 5,000 of Taco Bell's U.S. single-brand restaurants (meaning those not paired with a KFC will change from a partially hydrogenated soybean oil to a trans fat-free canola oil by April

Baby A hasn't eaten at a Taco Bell yet, mostly because we happen to have a local quick-serve Fresh Mex place right up the street. But I do love me some Taco Hell, and sooner or later A. will end up tagging along. I'm glad there will be fewer trans fats there.
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Guess what I learned this week? There's a Federation of Hoteliers and Restaurateurs in Spain, the members of which have pledged to refrain from promoting huge servings of food.

The other day, the Spanish Ministry of Health urged Burger King to pull an ad campaign for its monster XXL burger—which AO says is the caloric equivalent of eating ten fried eggs—because it violates a Spanish initiative against obesity.

The ministry reportedly has been asking the fast-food chain to abandon the campaign for more than a week because the commercials go against the federation. (Sounds Star Wars-ish, doesn't it?)

I doubt such an agreement for self-regulation could be reached here in the United States. But, I've been encouraged by all the trans-fats news, as well as Panera's organic kids' meal. Maybe, just maybe, self-regulation and market demand will work. Mayyyyyybe.

What do you think? Comment and let me know.