Oiled prisoner slips out of jail - NYC bans vegetable oil.

Oiled Prisoner Slips Out of Norwegian Jail

OSLO, Norway (Jan. 3) - A Lithuanian held on suspicion of theft in an Arctic Norway jail slipped out of custody - literally - by stripping naked, smearing himself with vegetable oil and sliding through the prison bars, police said Wednesday.

"He slipped through the bars on Christmas Eve," said Svein-Erik Jacobsen, operation leader for the Oest-Finnmark Police District. The unusual escape made national news in Norway on Wednesday.

Another Lithuanian, held as an accomplice in the same cell, also used the technique to try to slip out of a window of the Vadsoe Jail, but failed, apparently because he was too big. The men had managed to bend the bars slightly to gain more space.

"It was a good effort," Jacobsen said. "But all he did was get his head and part of his shoulder through the bars." - FULL STORY

The New York City Council promptly placed a provisional ban on vegetable oil, siting public safety concerns. The existing ban on trans fats has caused restaurateurs to scramble to purchase lard for cooking. Citywide shortages have forced lard to be imported from nearby Pennsylvania.

Some experts predict a ripple effect on the Pennsylvania potato chip industry, which proudly depends upon local lard to make chips which have a favorable mouth feel and taste. As lard prices rise, chip makers there may be forced to raise prices.