Nanny State Madness
New York City is fast on it's way to being a third parent for most of it's residents. The ban on trans fats, which will supposedly make food safer, is the latest on the list of things they are doing to protect residents from themselves.
Opinion Journal, the Wall Street Journal's online editorial page, does a great job of bashing Mayor Bloomberg and the city council for the ban. One of the interesting thing they point out is the same group, Center for Science in the Public Interest, that wants trans fat banned is largely responsible for their use. 30 years ago they claimed that hydrogenated oils posed no risk, and restaurants should replace palm oil with them. Now they want them banned, because they are supposedly bad for you. As the Journal asked, do they feel guilty about this?
I keep saying supposedly because there a lots of studies with small links between trans fat and heart disease, but none showing a direct correlation, unless you are drinking the stuff like water.
Most studies seem to show that the trans fat effect is negligible, at best, when weighed with other risk factors. But like the junk science of global warming, if you can get your junk science into the right hands, you can make huge changes with it.
Opinion Journal, the Wall Street Journal's online editorial page, does a great job of bashing Mayor Bloomberg and the city council for the ban. One of the interesting thing they point out is the same group, Center for Science in the Public Interest, that wants trans fat banned is largely responsible for their use. 30 years ago they claimed that hydrogenated oils posed no risk, and restaurants should replace palm oil with them. Now they want them banned, because they are supposedly bad for you. As the Journal asked, do they feel guilty about this?
I keep saying supposedly because there a lots of studies with small links between trans fat and heart disease, but none showing a direct correlation, unless you are drinking the stuff like water.
Most studies seem to show that the trans fat effect is negligible, at best, when weighed with other risk factors. But like the junk science of global warming, if you can get your junk science into the right hands, you can make huge changes with it.
So where does the nanny state go next? If you want to get a kill off the prowl, cars would be the logical choice. For people under the age of 50 they are the leading killer in the country, so shouldn't we be banning them, to keep people safe?
Technorati Tags: Nanny State, New York, Trans Fat, Food, Health, Junk Science.
posted by Crazy Politico at 1:43 PM
2Comments:
I agree with forcing food manufacturers and restaurants to make easily available lists of ingredients and nutritional info, but not with micromanaging their menu choices and cooking methods (beyond basic safety and cleanliness). If peeps have the info, then they can freely decide where to eat, and not.
I don't have a problem with making ingredient lists available either, and 99% of restaurants will give them to you if you ask, even when they aren't required to post them. But the nanny crap has to go. I'm a big boy, and know the fries are bad for me, I just like them, and figure I'm cutting a couple of years off the shitty end of my life.
Post a Comment
<< Home