Texas diners who like everything — Twinkies to bacon — a heaping lot better if it’s been deep-fried soon may be chowing on healthier cuisine if the Legislature approves a measure to ban heart-clogging artificial trans fats from restaurant meals.

Lawmakers in coming weeks will consider bills by Houston state Rep. Carol Alvarado and state Sen. Eliot Shapleigh, D-El Paso, that would outlaw restaurant use of certain oils, shortenings and margarines by September 2011.

The oils, which have been treated with hydrogen at high heat to prolong shelf life, were touted as healthful alternatives to butter until doctors found they contributed to cardiovascular and other diseases.

“Texans want to make healthy choices,” Alvarado said Friday. “This has nothing to do with taste. Our restaurants cook with trans fat-free oils, and it doesn’t compromise the flavor at all.”

Glen Garey, general counsel for the 5,000-member Texas Restaurant Association, said his organization “stands arm in arm” with Alvarado on the issue, especially since the bill was altered in committee to allow restaurants more time to comply.

If the bill becomes law, Texas would join California and New York City in banning the restaurant use of oils containing artificial trans fats.

Alvarado’s bill calls for eliminating use of such oils at restaurant chains with 15 or more outlets in Texas by September 2010. The ban would apply to all restaurants by September 2011. Penalties for violations have yet to be determined.

Ann-Marie Hedberg, visiting professor of nutritional and behavioral sciences at the University of Texas School of Public Health, said trans fats in partially hydrogenated oils are “worse than saturated fats.”

“We were so tied up worrying about cholesterol, we didn’t look at aspects that were even more dangerous in respect to their effect on the body,” she said. Treating oils with hydrogen was akin to “plasticizing” them, she said.

“In our bodies, our cells incorporate those fats,” she said. “They become more stiff, less pliable. We’re seeing an increase in cancers, in immunological disorders.” Trans fats raise blood levels of “bad” cholesterol, she said, and lower “good” cholesterol, thus contributing to cardiovascular disease.

Even a 2 percent increase in trans fat consumption can lead to a 25 percent increase in the chance of developing cardiovascular disease, American Heart Association president Dr. Clyde Yancy has noted.

In addition to their use in frying, such oils often are used in baking and may be present in packaged cookies, cakes and pancake mixes.

A number of fast-food chains, including McDonald’s, KFC and Wendy’s, have moved to eliminate trans fats from their offerings.

In Houston, Sereywutt Heng, owner of Christy’s Donuts and Kolaches, 1103 W. Gray, said he already replaced oils containing trans fat with soy oil. None of his customers apparently noticed, he said.

Sandra Bubbert, who owns Acadian Bakery, 604 Alabama, said she sticks to butter and eggs.

“We don’t have any trans fat unless the chickens are doing something I don’t know about,” she said.