In a state where fried Snickers bars, fried pickles and even fried ranch dressing are readily available at most cultural festivals, one senator is fighting to ban harmful fats.

State Sen. Eliot Shapleigh, D-El Paso, held a press conference Monday during which he announced a plan to ban the use of trans fats in Texas restaurants. The plan would go into effect in September 2011.

Shapleigh, joined by representatives from the Texas Restaurant Association and state Rep. Carol Alvarado, D-Houston, who is shepherding a companion bill through the House, said the ban is necessary, given the deterioration of young Texans’ health.

“Across Texas, an epidemic of obesity is shortening lives, raising health costs and putting more and more Texans at risk,” Shapleigh said.

According to the Texas Department of State Health Services, 66 percent of Texas adults and 32 percent of high school seniors were obese in 2007.

Trans fats occur almost uniquely in processed foods that contain hydrogenated oils; the process makes liquid oils solid and increases shelf life and flavor stability. Unlike naturally occurring fats that have beneficial qualities, trans fats are exclusively harmful and have been linked to increased rates of heart disease and diabetes.

Mike Hutchinson, owner of Hut’s Hamburgers and Frank & Angie’s Pizzeria, said he was not convinced that the ban would have much effect.

“All the oil we use is already free of trans fats,” Hutchinson said. “The reason why we started doing it over a year ago is because customers were asking about it. People were kind of concerned.”

Texas Restaurant Association spokesman Glen Garey said most Austin restaurants no longer use the product.

“The industry is moving away from them,” Garey said. “At the beginning it was a problem because we didn’t have a good supply of oils that didn’t have trans fats in them. Since most of the major chains have gone trans-fat free, we have a ready supply. This bill just puts a nail in the coffin.”

Several Austin eateries, including Mrs. Johnson’s Bakery, TerraBurger and Kerbey Lane Cafe, also denied using trans fats in their cooking.

Ben Adams, a spokesman for Restaurant Technologies Inc., the company that provides much of the cooking oil for local Austin restaurants as well as chains like McDonald’s and Long John Silver’s, said restaurants in general have been purchasing more trans-fat-free oil since New York City banned its use in 2006 and California banned it in 2008.

Adams, who is also a salesman for the company, said trans-fat-free oil is becoming more popular despite the increased expense to restaurant owners.

“It’s considerably more — I would say 20 to 30 percent more — for zero-trans [oil], and it’s really not even zero trans [fat]; there is no zero trans fat you can buy on the market,”

Adams said. “We [supply] a lot of the McDonald’s, and just simply for what we charge McDonald’s, it’s about a dollar a pound, compared to smaller restaurants that buy creamy soybean oil, which is about 30 to 40 percent cheaper.”

Adams questioned whether trans-fat-free oils are more expensive or simply inflated in price because of the demand for them.

The bill contains one exception to the trans-fat ban: donuts.

Garey said donut shops have had a harder time finding trans-fat-free oils, but both Mrs. Johnson’s and Drag staple Ken’s Donuts & Pastries denied using trans fats in their cooking.