Tuesday, September 26, 2006

NYC Mulls Ban on Trans Fats in Eateries

They have GOT to be kidding! What is it about people in New York that refuses to allow people to make their own decisions?
The city health department unveiled a proposal Tuesday that would bar cooks at any of the city's 24,600 food service establishments from using ingredients that contain the artery-clogging substance, commonly listed on food labels as partially hydrogenated oil.
Out of curiosity, why add an ingredient to something that doesn't need it? Where did it come from?
"Labeling is one thing, but when they totally ban a product, it goes well beyond what we think is prudent and acceptable," said Chuck Hunt, executive vice president of the city's chapter of the New York State Restaurant Association.
Can we outlaw stupidity? Oh, guess not, because then we'd HAVE to raise taxes to build so many new prisons to house the idiots!
Wendy's announced in August that it had switched to a new cooking oil that contains no trans fatty acids. Crisco now sells a shortening that contains zero trans fats. Frito-Lay removed trans fats from its Doritos and Cheetos. Kraft's took trans fats out of Oreos.
So, what's the problem? If companies are acting on their own, is it really necessary for NYC to regulate what goes into foodstuffs?
"Artificial trans fats are very toxic, and they almost surely causes tens of thousands of premature deaths each year," he said. "The federal government should have done this long ago."
Federal regulation, contrary to what the lefties believe, is NOT the answer to every thing. We are grownups... well, most of us are, and we control what we eat and drink. We even have control over what our children ingest, at least when they're with us. For example, if I want to sit down and eat that whole pound of white chocolate M&M's, that's my choice. There will be consequences that I will have to deal with, like a larger hind end, but then, that would be MY problem, and choice.