What do you think about this? Good idea or too much government?

Question

NEW YORK — New York City, long known for clogged arteries during rush hour, took a big and controversial step Tuesday toward helping improve human arteries when the Board of Health officially banned artificial trans fats from restaurant menus.

The board, which passed the ban unanimously, gave restaurants a slight break by relaxing what had been considered a tight deadline for compliance. Restaurants will be barred from using most frying oils containing artificial trans fats by July, and will have to eliminate artificial trans fats from all served foods by July 2008.

"I am very supportive of the changes," said Hasan, a manager at Dervish, a Turkish restaurant. "We stopped using trans fats a long time ago. Health is the most important factor, and people will just have to get used to it."

Pushcart vendor Abu doesn't buy the ban.

"You need a little trans for good taste. I think this is a very bad idea," he said.

City Health Commissioner Thomas Frieden had said that officials weighed complaints from the restaurant industry, which argued that it was unrealistic to give them six months to replace cooking oils and shortening and 18 months to phase out the ingredients altogether.

JS - Bush had nothing to do with this. NEW YORK CITY GOVERNMENT DID.

GET A FREAKIN GRIP.

Answer 1

Government has no place interfering with things like that. I understand they're trying to help, but personal choice and moral value has to protect health, not restrictive laws. That's why we were given intelligence in the first place, it should be upon the individual what they eat and don't.

Answer 2

Its the health police and its a terrible use of government. You can require a company to let me know they use trans fats or lard or butter but it will be for me to decide if I eat it. Any fat in overabundance is unhealthy, most foods in moderation are safe. How is trans fat singled out. Ridiculous!

Answer 3

Too much government. There are a lot of other substances that are bad for you too. Why single out this? People have the right to eat and drink what they want. We are all taught what good nutrition is and it is up to each of us to make our own decision on what sort of substances we ingest into our bodies.

Answer 4

just another example of how our gov, wants and will keep chipping away at our constitutional rights and giving the gov, more and more power over us, by slowly chipping away it takes longer to break us down but, if they did it all at once we might get smart and repell their advances , but, this way people will say "so what it is just a little thing it doesn't matter, " and nothing is did to repell IT then one day we will wake up and guess what we have no rights left to worry about and it is coming closer and closer,

Answer 5

Good, now if we could just ban "all you can eat buffets", then people would not be able to sue restaurants for making them fat

Answer 6

Entirely too much government intervention. Now they are telling us what we can eat? When did this country become a Communism? Oh, right!! When Bush took over!!

Answer 7

This isn't way too much government--this is reasonable regulation. It's like saying "no traces of cyanide in food, please." Trans fats have been proven to be extremely detrimental to health, and it's not like there aren't reasonable alternatives.

Answer 8

Good for old NYC! although truthfully, I expected California to be the first. they are just trying to protect the public.

Answer 9

First it's the smokers, then it's the overweight......wonder what's next on the agenda.....

Answer 10

WAY too much govt.