Dunkin' Donuts has announced that it will be offering a zero-trans-fat menu starting Oct. 15 in all its stores. (They've already been including zero-trans-fat items in 400 Dunkin' Donutses around the country as part of a blind taste test.) Subsidiary Baskin Robbins will follow suit in January 2008.

So where does that leave the donut world's trans-fat tote board?

Krispy Kreme: The North Carolina company that has been aggressively challenging Massachusetts-based Dunkin' Donuts' pastry supremacy in the U.S. doesn't have a zero-trans-fat option on its menu, but is working on it. "We continue to work aggressively with outside supply partners, and our goal is to get to zero trans-fatty acids while maintaining great Krispy Kreme taste," a spokesman told the Associated Press.

Winchell's Donut House: California-based donut chain didn't return AP's calls. Sounds like a "no comment."

Starbucks: Seattle-based mega-chain that you may be acquainted with. Announced in May that it was going to cut artificial trans fats out of its products in the continental U.S., Alaska and Canada by the end of the year.

Tim Horton's: Canada's pride and joy (popular Canadiana writer Will Ferguson once told me I'd never understand the Canadian soul until I'd had a maple donut at Tim Horton's), and one donut empire the AP story strangely missed. It's a big omission, too. When I called, the Tim Horton's people told me that the company's been trans-fat-free since early 2006. And in case you protest that only American donut chains count, remember that they have over 300 restaurants in the U.S. (and one outside Kandahar, Afghanistan, weirdly enough). Mark up one win for Canada.

So, to sum up: Dunkin' Donuts is ahead of Starbucks by a length, Krispy Kreme's stuck way in the back of the pack, and Winchell's seems to have lost its jockey altogether. And Tim Horton's? It's already won the race and is enjoying a post-run rubdown.

Wait. "Dunkin' Donutses"? Can that possibly be right?