Posted on 09/26/2006 6:27:25 PM PDT by FairOpinion
NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York City's Health Department on Tuesday proposed a near ban on the use of artificial trans fat at restaurants, likening its health danger to that of lead paint.
The proposal would limit the use of the artery-clogging fat, which is often used in fast foods, to 0.5 grams per serving. The proposal comes after a year-long city campaign to educate restaurants on the effects of such fats and encourage them to stop their use.
The city said the voluntary campaign failed and while some of New York's more than 20,000 restaurants reduced or stopped using artificial trans fat, overall use did not decline at all.
"Trans fat causes heart disease. Like lead in paint, artificial trans fat in food is invisible and dangerous, and it can be replaced," New York City Health Commissioner Thomas Frieden said in a statement.
"While it may take some effort, restaurants can replace trans fat without changing the taste or cost of food. No one will miss it when it's gone."
New York's Board of Health, an independent regulatory body, will hold a hearing on the proposal on October 30 and is expected vote on it in December.
In Chicago, city officials are seeking to reduce the use of the fats in a voluntary campaign similar to the effort that failed in New York.
Trans fat, found in some margarine, fast food, cookies, cakes and pastry, is produced when oil is partially hydrogenated and it increases the shelf life of foods. But it also raises low density lipoprotein (LDL), or bad cholesterol, in the blood and cuts the amount of high density lipoprotein (HDL), or good cholesterol.
The department said that on average, Americans consume almost 6 grams of trans fat each day; a single fast food meal can contain more than 10 grams of trans fat.
"Consumers have the right to know what goes on their plates," said Kelly Brownell, director of the Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity at Yale University.
"For decades, research has linked trans fat and heart disease. With so many alternatives available, no restaurant needs to put its customers at risk by cooking with trans fats," Brownell said.
In the United States, more than 60 percent of the population is overweight and 30 percent is obese.
The proposal would give restaurants six months to switch to oils, margarine and shortening with less than 0.5 grams of trans fat per serving.
After 18 months, all other food items would need to contain less than 0.5 grams of trans fat per serving. Packaged food items still in the manufacturer's original packaging when served would be exempt.
The department would also require that more restaurants print calorie information on menus.
If I decide to go to a restaurant and eat transfat, it's none of the government's business.
NAZI'S!!!
I think a ban on food Nazi police would be far more effective.
Only in a blue state.
Imagine that--who would have guessed?
First the carrot and then the stick.
"Of all tyrannies, a tyranny exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end, for they do so with the approval of their own conscience."
~ C.S. Lewis
another article:
Doughnuts in danger? New York City mulls ban on restaurant trans fats
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2006/09/26/america/NA_GEN_US_Diet_Trans_Fat_Ban.php
Doctors agree that trans fats are unhealthy in nearly any amount, but a spokesman for the restaurant industry said he was stunned the city would seek to ban a legal ingredient found in millions of American kitchens.
"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 New York City chapter of the New York State Restaurant Association.
He said the proposal could create havoc: Cooks will be forced to discard old recipes and scrutinize every ingredient in their pantry. A restaurant could face a fine if an inspector finds the wrong type of vegetable shortening on its shelves.
One more thought, and sadly I am being series, as they seek to have the govt provide health insurance (and/or health care) they could use this to make you follow their approved diet, or deny you medical care if you eat unapproved foods.
How about banning Fat Trans!
MANY NY RESTAURANTS GO OUT OF BUSINESS - BUSH TO BLAME
Works for me!
I'd like to make an intelligible reply, but I see NY politics at large and have an image of Nadler's fat neck that's too fat to whistle in the wind even in a rare Nor 'easter, speaking of trans fat.
Liberals are all for partial birth abortions for the newborns and euthanasia for the sick and elderly, calling them "freedom of choice". But god forbid we do anything with our bodies in between infancy and old age that we find pleasureable like smoking cigarettes, eating trans fats, and junk food of all sorts. Then by God, they must bring the government heel down on our necks in order to stop us because we might kill ourselves.
I don't get it.
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