What will they Ban Next?

New York City has ordered restaurants to stop selling food made with trans fat. "It is a dangerous and unnecessary ingredient," says the health commissioner. Gee, I'm all for good health, but shouldn't it be a matter of individual choice?

"A model for what, exactly?" asks George Mason University economist Don Boudreaux (LINK: www.cafehayek.com). "Petty tyranny? Or perhaps for similarly inspired bans on other voluntary activities with health risks? Clerking in convenience stores? Walking in the rain?"

Trans fats give foods like French fries that texture I like. They are probably bad for me, but Radley Balko of Reason points out that "despite all of the dire warnings about our increased intake of trans-fats over the last 20 years, heart disease in America has been in swift decline ... So, if they're killing us, they're not doing a very good job."

But that's not the point. In a free society the issue is: Who decides what I eat, the government or me? It's not as though information about trans fats is hard to come by. Scaremongers like the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) are all too happy to tell you about the dangers, and they have no trouble getting their declarations of doom on television and into newspapers.

Unfortunately, CSPI is not content to tell you avoid trans fats. It sues restaurants like McDonald's and KFC for using them, and urges governments to ban them.

But why do the health police get to take away my choices? Adults should be expected to take responsibility for their own health.

Often the health police say they must "protect the children." But children are the responsibility of their parents. When the state assumes the role of parent, it makes children of all of us.

The food prohibitionists don't understand that there are ways to influence people's behavior without resorting to coercion -- remember, coercion is the essence of government. The public fuss about harm from trans fats has already induced many food makers to remove them. It's suddenly become a competitive advantage to boast that your products are trans-fat-free. Such voluntary action is the best way to move toward healthier food.

Why isn't that good enough for the prohibitionists? Why must they enlist the iron hand of government?

I think they dislike freedom of choice. They know the right way, so it's only right that they force everyone to follow them. That's the philosophy of prohibitionists.

The Center for Consumer Freedom is running ads saying: "Now that New York has banned cooking oils with trans fat (the same substance as margarine) ... it opens the door to banning so much more! Using the same logic, let's get rid of New York style pizza (seriously, do you need all that cheese?), beef hot dogs (tofu dogs almost taste the same), corned beef (turkey breast is much leaner). ... "

Yes, I know the center's sponsors include restaurants and food companies, but still, it has a good point.

Nobel Prize-winning economist Milton Friedman, who died a few weeks ago, would have agreed. He was the author of "Free to Choose" and "free to choose" sums up Friedman's philosophy. He would have cringed at the banning of trans fats, just as he objected to the earlier banning of products like the sugar substitute called cyclamates.

Over 25 years ago, Friedman wrote, "If we continue on this path, there is no doubt where it will end. If the government has the responsibility of protecting us from dangerous substances, the logic surely calls for prohibiting alcohol and tobacco. . . . Insofar as the government has information not generally available about the merits or demerits of the items we ingest or the activities we engage in, let it give us the information. But let it leave us free to choose what chances we want to take with our own lives."

A New York Times headline about the ban reads: "A Model for Other Cities."

Florida City May Be Next To Ban Trans Fat
12/21/06
http://cbs4boston.com/health/health_story_355125321.html
(CBS) BOCA RATON, Fla. New York City has done it. Disney World and Universal Studios are doing it and now Boca Raton is considering doing it too. City leaders are considering a ban on trans fat at local restaurants.
(snip)

Trans Fat Spiral Widens
12/20/06
http://www.consumerfreedom.com/news_detail.cfm/headline/3203
The bandwagon's getting more crowded every day. We told you last week that the New York City trans fat ban has been spreading like a grease wildfire, and the flames keep rising. The Palm Springs Desert Sun reports that California Assemblywoman Bonnie Garcia has introduced a bill that would forbid the state's more than 80,000 restaurants from cooking with trans fat. While ultimately advocating the rather dubious alternative of a fat tax, The Sacramento Bee editorialized in favor of caution on banning trans fats outright:
(snip)

Bill would ban trans fat in Mass.

By Associated Press
http://www.seacoastonline.com/news/12202006/massnews-ph-ma-transfat.html

BOSTON -- A state lawmaker wants to follow the lead of New York City and make Massachusetts the first state in the nation to require restaurants to banish artificial trans fats from their menus.

State Rep. Peter Koutoujian, D-Waltham, filed legislation Tuesday to ban all restaurants' use of the fats that health officials blame for increasing the risk of heart disease.

Koutoujian, house chairman of the Legislature's Joint Committee on Public Health, thinks it has a good chance of passing.

Trans fat is produced when hydrogen is added to vegetable oil through hydrogenation.

Will Cleveland ban trans fat?

Monica Robins
Created: 12/13/2006 6:23:27 PM
Updated:12/14/2006 1:29:02 AM

http://www.wkyc.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=60600

CLEVELAND -- Cleveland City Council has passed a resolution to investigate trans fat.
Cleveland City Councilman Kevin Conwell says he researched trans fat and realized, "they're killing us."

In two months, Conwell says Council will have a hearing to discuss the issue and possibly institute a ban similar to the one recently passed by the New York City Board of Health.
(snip)

Proposal to Ban Trans Fat in Philly Restaurants

http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?section=local&id=4849895
PHILADELPHIA (AP) - December 14, 2006 - A city councilman introduced legislation Thursday that would prohibit restaurants from using artery-clogging artificial trans fat.

The legislation proposed by Councilman Juan F. Ramos is similar to a ban enacted by the New York City Board of Health earlier this month.

Ramos' bill would amend the city health code to allow only trace amounts of trans fat in foods served in restaurants and vending carts. The proposal does not outline penalties, but they would be settled before it is implemented, said Ramos' aide Joshua M. Cohen.

Artificial trans fat, which is found in vegetable shortening, margarine and partially hydrogenated vegetable oils, contributes to heart disease, according to health groups. Studies have shown it raises bad cholesterol and lowers good cholesterol.
(snip

and so it goes on and on and on.......

Science advances and often revises earlier judgments, and not all ills have obvious causes. The case against trans fats is now persuasive if not conclusive. As for trans fats being safe because they have been used for a long time, consider the results of the US Army autopsy studies on KIA's.

For healthy young men who died in combat, in WW I, the arteries were clean -- in an era of diets rich in butter, egg, red meat saturated fats. In WW II, the arteries were beginning to show deposits. By Viet Nam, the arteries of young KIAs were, by comparison, starting to be significantly thickened and riddled with deposits. Was this the results of cigarettes or trans fats? Or something else? Since cigarette usage was similar between WW II and Viet Nam, trans fats are the more likely cause -- all those oreos, snack cakes, margarine, and so on.

There is an abundance of medical evidence to the same effect. Take a look at Pub Med and Medline for specifics.

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