New York will lead the way in eliminating trans fats from restaurant menus if health officials succeed in pushing through a new proposal. Trans fats, which are found in many cooking oils and margarines, may contribute to obesity and heart disease.

Those that failed to comply would be slapped with fines ranging from $200 to $2,000 under the regulation.

A public hearing on the proposed ban is scheduled for Oct. 30.

Another proposal by the New York City Department of Health would require restaurants that have provided calorie information on the Internet or in separate brochures to add calorie counts to their menus.

Chains such as Starbucks, Subway and McDonald's would be affected by this regulation, if adopted.

The measures are designed to confront the twin issues of obesity and heart disease head on.

Many types of cooking oils contain trans fats -- they often turn up on the ingredients lists of doughnuts, french fries and pastries, for example.

However, many packaged food brands have taken steps to reduce or eliminate them since Jan. 1, 2006, when an FDA regulation requiring that food labels list trans fats took effect.