Mansfield Board of Health Adopts Grease Trap Rules, Defers Vote on Flavored Tobacco

MANSFIELD — October 4, 2018 — Mansfield Board of Health adopts grease trap rules and hears dueling testimony on a proposed flavored tobacco crackdown. The board voted unanimously October 4 to approve a fats, oils and grease regulation requiring restaurants to clean grease traps at least every 30 days, with a variance process available, effective January 1, 2019. A ten-point audit of the town's 2016 tobacco regulation, presented by a state-affiliated tobacco control specialist identified as DJ and physician Dr. Hartman, documented missing provisions now standard in 129 Massachusetts communities, including a flavored-product restriction that would move all flavored tobacco and vaping sales out of Mansfield's 23 licensed tobacco retailers and into adult-only shops — currently only one in town, Wicked Vape. Dr. Hartman told the board that Mansfield High School has removed bathroom doors in boys' restrooms because vaping "is so bad there," and cited survey data showing 42 percent of Mansfield seniors have used vaping products. Dennis Lane, executive director of the Coalition for Responsible Retailing, countered that the state Board of Health reports a 95 percent compliance rate for tobacco sales to minors at retail stores and that youth primarily obtain vaping products through the internet and social sources rather than convenience stores. The board took no vote on tobacco changes, agreeing instead to review the regulatory audit before its November meeting.