The Maryland General Assembly is considering legislation aimed at promoting healthy food and reducing obesity rates.

The Washington Post reports:

One proposal heard by a House committee yesterday would follow Montgomery County's lead and ban cholesterol-raising trans fatty acids at restaurants throughout the state. Another measure would require fast-food restaurants and other chain restaurants to conspicuously post calorie counts on their menus, as is now required in New York City.

This legislation is part of a national trend to improve food safety. For instance, earlier this year, the California legislature became the first in the country to ban trans fats statewide.

Last year, Frank Morales -- the executive chef at Rustico, a trendy restaurant in Alexandria -- developed an incredible frozen treat for the summer: the Hopsicle.

Morales uses various Belgian fruit beers as a base to build a layer of unexpected complexity to his icy creations, then serves the deserts in three basic flavors -- plum, raspberry, and fudge (and other flavors rotate in on a regular basis).

The restaurant put out a press release to celebrate this wondrous feat of gastronomical imagination, and that’s when Morales and the Hopsicle ran into trouble. A reporter for the Associated Press called the Virginia Department Alcohol Beverage Control who announced that there was a regulatory problem:

Philip Disharoon, special agent in charge of the Alexandria division of the Virginia ABC, said beer must be served in its original container, or served immediately to a customer once it is poured from its original container.

"If we're talking about taking a beer and pouring it from a bottle or a keg into some sort of mold and freezing it, then that product is not legal," Disharoon said. He planned to send an agent to investigate.

Enter two Virginia Democrats: Delegate Adam Ebbin and Sen. Patsy Ticer, who changed the state law to preserve the sense of childlike wonder in the hearts of diners throughout the state.

That’s a job well done.