NYC Ban on Fats? Wtf?

[ACK]

Come on. Give me a damn break.

From CNN:
"Three years after the city banned smoking in restaurants, health officials are talking about prohibiting something they say is almost as bad: artificial trans fatty acids.

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."

http://www.cnn.com/2006/HEALTH/09/26/trans.fat.ban.ap/index.html

Listen in a world where corporations belch poison in the air. In a world where we actually have a public debate over how much lead in our water is ok.
When the power of the media is becoming concentrated in smaller and smaller hands. In a time when coporations actually write the environmental law.

In a time when government subsidies to corporations top out at 85 frickin' billion dollars of your tax money.

This is what NYC and Chicago finds important to take a stand on?!?

When de-regulation is some kind of out of control rage here we sit giving the damn repukes a perfect example of government regulation gone overboard.

I mean labelling? Oh hell yes, tell me what the heck is my food.

I am so there.

But telling me that you are banning all trans fatty acids because those who know what's best for us must rise and save us from ourselves? Now that is damn ridiculous.

Its not trans fatty acids that are making Americans overweight or fast food outlets. Its our own damn crappy eating habits.

You cannot with a straight face tell me that if you are eating fast food 3 times a week you actually think its good for you. That is moronic. This isn't like second hand smoke.

You pick the Apple Pie Ala Mode right? You know that ain't health food.

We cannot moderate ourselves so we want the government to do it for us?

[Karenca]

1. It's pretty much banned in the UK

as is corn syrup.

[ACK]

2. So?

Why do we have to wringe our hands and live up to every one of the damn worst liberal stereotypes with crazy crap like this?

The entire country is spiralling into shit with no healthcare and corporatism and ... you know all this.

But here we are worrying over violent video games and trans fatty acids ?!?!?

Unless we ban all personal liberties we cannot protect people from their own personal responsibilities.

[seabeyond]

3. slippery slope... oh no strawman argument.... reality, obvious n/t

[Richard D]

4. It's a good thing.

Trans fat, e.g. hydrogenated vegetable oil, is a horrible invention of the food industry. It's neither necessary nor does it help food taste better. It's simply cheap and convenient. And it's one of the more insidiously deadly things in the diet. I'm all for seeing it illegal in the entire country.

It's not a matter of moderating ourselves. It's a matter of having a law that keeps restaurants from using this poison. There are a lot of banned food additives, and this should be added to that list.

[ACK]

6. Poison? What about saturated fat?

Both are harmful but trans fatty acids is worse but poison?

If you choose to eat foods low in trans fatty acids or to eat foods with shortening etc in moderation it is not harmful.

How is this different than banning alcohol during prohibition?

This is not like regulating the inspection of meat so people do not die from eating rancid food. Its not like putting cyanide in the food.

Give me the label and let me choose.

This is the kind of crazy regulations that gives the conservatives and libertarians ammo.

[Karenca]

9. Not the same at all.

Saturated fat occurs naturally in some foods---meats, butter, etc.

Trans Fat is a man-made product.

[Richard D]

15. Exactly!

And there is a great deal of debate about saturated fats. Personally I think that they are not unhealthy in moderation and when not overcooked or burned. But trans fats are unhealthy (Ok. poison was a bit too strong, though that is my opinon) no matter the quantity.

[Cha]

52. Teach it,

sistah!

[Marnieworld]

27. yes transfat is worse than saturated fat

If it was called arsenic you wouldn't want it in your food even in low doses that wouldn't kill you. Transfats are different. It is not a naturally occurring substance but is produced.

[LostinVA]

32. Two totally different things: trans fat is basically FAKE, plastic-like fa

I eat really healthy, But I like me some ice cream, a nice NY strip, etc., too. But, that's at least real, natural fat. But that partially hydrogenated crap NEVER goes into me. Just like I don't eat plastic, spray Windex down my throat, etc. This stuff goes into things like Pledge and other cleaning products. Ugh.

Oprah had a really good show on this thing about two weeks ago. I knew what trans fat basically was, and that it was bad, but the extent of it's total fakeness and badness astounded me... it should be totally illegal in this country, as should HFCS.

[hpot]

5. Sometimes, Regulation can be a good thing

Its not trans fatty acids that are making Americans overweight or fast food outlets. Its our own damn crappy eating habits.

Consumption of soft drinks and high-fructose corn syrup linked to obesity and diabetes
http://www.newstarget.com/003002.html

Google: "aluminum powder in food"
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&sa=X&oi=spell&resnum=0&ct=result&cd=1&q=aluminum+powder+in+food&spell=1

Mexico's GM Corn Shocks Scientists
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines01/1130-03.htm

Greenpeace Stops Ship Carrying Contaminated Corn
http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/press/releases/greenpeace-stops-ship-carrying

[Karenca]

7. It is.

Trans fat should have never been allowed .

It's about time this was changed.

[ACK]

8. woh one thing is not like other!

Corn syrup in soft drinks is not the damn same as aluminum in the food or crappy genetically engineered corn that we have no idea what the impact on our health will be in consumption of that stuff.

Gosh alcohol leads to alcoholics lets go back to the prohibition and I guess that War on Drugs and ban on pot actually makes sense?

[Karenca]

10. Why so adamant---Do you really want to eat that crap?

just askin'

[ACK]

17. Shortening in pie crusts? Every once in a damn while yes! I fucking do.

Corn syrup in my beloved pecan pie? Yeah. I do want to eat that crap. Every once in a blue moon.

I eat organic meat. I drink organic hormone free milk.

You want to ban something? Ban those goddamn hormones and steroids that studies have associated with girls coming into puberty earlier and earlier nowadays and other health problems too btw.

But come on what they are trying to do is legislate a thinner nation and that is not going to work.

They are not banning because man-made.

[hpot]

19. I prefer to use real butter and real sugar

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm Just like mom use to bake. :)

[ACK]

20. Actually I prefer lard in pie crusts for other crusts prefer butter

corn syrup is called for in almost every pecan pie recipe.

But you know hard it is to find lard in any form outside a huge frickin' bucket that I end up just wasting?

Those were the only examples I could imagine me actually using those products but I do not like the government telling me I cannot use those products.

I mean if there is research that says even in small moderate dosage trans fatty acids are truly poison to the system and will kill you then fine.
Ban it.

But if you over-consume it makes you fat and hightens your cholesterol?

No shit. Who the fuck looked at shortening and thought that was health food?

That sounds like we are walking down the same slope as prohibition imho.

[BadgerKid]

41. Corn syrup is ok

Corn syrup is not HFCS, rather it's glucose syrup.

[Garbo 2004]

22. Crisco 0 Grams Trans Fat Per Serving All-Vegetable Shortening

http://www.crisco.com/about/0_grams.asp

[LostinVA]

35. Correct -- all natural

[slaveplanet]

48. GM soybeans

crisco zero trans fat

Ingredients:
SOYBEAN OIL, SUNFLOWER OIL, FULLY HYDROGENATED PALM OIL, MONO- AND DIGLYCERIDES, TBHQ AND CITRIC ACID (ANTIOXIDANTS).

[Karenca]

25. You can still buy your shortening

and you can still buy your corn syrup.

Eliminating trans fat will not make you thinner,
but will make you healthier---after all,
butter and olive oil are
loaded with calories.

Simple---Trans fat should have never been produced in the first place
and now it's going to be removed.

And that's a positive.

[LostinVA]

33. Butter and sugar will taste way better than shortening and CS

[woo me with science]

28. Why so adamant about phone taps?

Do you really have something to hide?

[Karenca]

37. Don't compare apples and oranges....nt

[LostinVA]

40. Beat me to it n/t

[woo me with science]

43. What a stunning waste of time this issue is. nt

[cigsandcoffee]

11. McDonald's Fries? KFC? Dunkin' Donuts?

The proposal also would create a huge problem for national chains. Among the fast foods that would need to get an overhaul or face a ban: McDonald's french fries, Kentucky Fried Chicken and several varieties of Dunkin' Donuts.

This is ridiculous. A nanny state ideology at its worst. DO NOT fuck with McDonald's french fries - the damn things are delicious just as they are.

[William Bloode]

12. Shit like this is what makes us look bad.

Stinks of the whole nanny state bullshit. I'll have no part of something like this. Telling people what to eat is just going way to far. They gonna try to come in and tell folks how to have sex with their partners next? Or maybe you are using the wrong kind of toothpaste? Don't eat that hot dog, or it's a $50 fine.

Hogwash! and i am surprised to see support of such intrusive behavior.

[w4rma]

23. Bloomberg is mayor of NYC and he is a Republican.

So, my suggestion is to vote for Democrats if you don't like this.

[DemExpat]

29. You won't notice the difference in your favorite foods

with trans fats removed and replaced with healthier fats.

This is a great initiative to protect people's health long term. IMO.

DemEx

[DemExpat]

30. Dupe....

n/t

[LostinVA]

36. You WILL notice -- it'll taste better!

[cynatnite]

13. Salt is next on the list...

then it's caffiene...

Watch Demolition Man. If it's not good for you, it's banned.

[wuushew]

38. Salt is a necessary electrolyte

and caffeine (which occurs naturally) has no sharp indications of being extremely positive nor negative on overall human health.

Transfats have absolutely no positive benefits. They are a modern poison not necessary for the preparation of foods. The only argument one could make in this debate is that the increased material cost associated with banning them would be passed along to the end consumer. The utility and cost of economic hardship must be weighed against that of improved public health and general wellbeing. In any case progressives are constantly fighting for class and economic issues as well so it is not like there is a complete cross purposes conflict here.

Government food regulation based on science has a far better record than that of unfettered libertarian fantasy. How can a single individual accumulate enough understanding of a complex issues in a single lifetime versus a government with a unlimited lifespan and which employees countless experts in the field?

The goals of individuals are often those shared with the larger gestalt entity of government. While is not hard to be critical of the government, people are too kind to the supposed self-evident wisdom of the individual. If the so called tyranny of the nanny state ever was so great that 51% of the population demanded limits on the power regulation you would see it in a heartbeat. Regulation of industry is not incompatible with democratic principles.

[sandnsea]

14. Trans fats are totally unnecessary

You can't tell the difference either. Go buy a bag of Fritos, 0 trans fat. Many fried foods are 0 trans fat these days. This has nothing to do with pie and ice cream at all. Trans fats are artery cloggers, get rid of them.

[Rosco T.]

16. From Wikipedia...

Trans fatty acids (commonly termed trans fats) are a type of unsaturated fat (and may be monounsaturated or polyunsaturated).

Trans fats occur naturally in small quantities in meat and dairy products from ruminants. Most trans fats consumed today, however, are industrially created through partial hydrogenation of plant oils and animal fats — a chemical process developed in the early 1900s and first commercialized as Crisco in 1909.

Unlike other fats, trans fats are neither required nor beneficial for health. Eating trans fat increases the risk of coronary heart disease. For these reasons, health authorities worldwide recommend that consumption of trans fat be reduced to trace amounts. Trans fats from partially hydrogenated oils are generally considered to be worse than those occurring naturally.

Trans fats are increasingly being linked to chronic health conditions (see below), are tightly regulated in a few countries, are mandatory on product labels in many others, and are the central issue in several ongoing lawsuits (particularly against fast food outlets). Many companies are voluntarily removing trans fats from their products, or establishing trans-free product lines.

----------

The movement away from trans fat has been seen in restaurant chains as well. In June 2006, the fast food chain Wendys announced that they would switch to non-hydrogenated cooking oil to reduce trans fat. In June 2006, the Panera Bread food chain removed transfats from all breads and bagels, and most of their other baked goods.

[cigsandcoffee]

18. Another thing. Isn't this telling us what we can do with our bodies?

Get government out of our stomachs. Make sure the restaurants don't have bugs, or are clean. Make sure the employees wash their hands. Enforce hairnets. But let's stop short of regulating the damn ingredients because someone wants to force their nutritional morality on me.

[Garbo 2004]

21. No. Have you eaten any Frito-Lay chips lately? No one will stop you.

They still have fat and they're still fattening. And still taste good.

[Karenca]

24. Trans fats DO NOT enhance the flavor of food

So what's the big deal?

Why are you insisting that you prefer
partially hydrogenated chemical compounds
to real butter, fine olive oil?

The food is not going to lack taste when the artificial crap
is no longer an ingredient---It
will probably end up tasting better.

And, you will have better health.

[LostinVA]

39. Exactly -- they were invented TO MAKE COMPANIES RICHER

No other reason. None. Zip.

How? Because that tasty little baked good would be able to sit on a shelf in direct sunlight for months and months and months... instead of being replaced with a fresh cake in a few days or weeks. So... instead of giving you a yummy, natural fat-filled product, they give you a product filled with something beyond fake, created JUST TO MAKE THEM MONEY, and to screw you.

This isn't about fat, it's about dangerous and 100% unneeded additives -- that do nothing but enrich large corporations' coffers.

Period.

Eat your sugar, your lard, your butter, whatever. They are at least real, even if too much is bad for your health.

[calico1]

45. Bingo!

That is the only reason for the use of trans fats. So your Ritz crackers can sit for years in your cupbaord. Because they can last so long, less are lost due to spoilage and that means fatter profits for the company. They don't give a shit what it does to people. It amazes me that anyone here would be in such support of big corporations and against their own health. Trans fats should never have been permitted. I hope they are all banned.

[novalib]

51. Eat Your SUGAR, LARD, and BUTTER???!!!!!!

I do hope you are being sarcastic when you encourage people to eat LARD, SUGAR, and BUTTER because they are natural!!

If it were up to me, I would BAN any use of LARD in any restaurant.

And I would very much limit the use of sugar and butter in restaurants.

I've noticed that many restaurants serve their rolls and bread with little packets of butter. Why not olilve oil? Or better yet, jams or jellies?

Restaurants have an OBLIGATION NOT to make people sick!!!! -- and serving foods with LARD, and excessive amounts of butter and sugar does just that!

[Marnieworld]

26. actually

Transfats are a useless, unnecessary poison leading to inflammation and free radicals responsible for heart disease, strokes, diabetes. It's inclusion in all of the fast foods and processed foods is relatively recent, only there to save costs of producing such food, and is so very damaging to the human body. Anything you see that's partially hydrogenated is poison, pure and simple. I don't see anything wrong with people removing poison from their products. The same bad "eating habits" would produce different results if it was removed. It's a public health issue. It can only benefit people. It's just as important as regulating water or air I think. I am operating on the assumption that many people aren't educated enough to understand what's in their food or how it affects them, also if they do know so many many people can only afford those types of food. It's not just cut and dry control yourself solution for many people. For all of the bad that our government does with our money helping people is still a good thing.

[DemExpat]

31. Excellent news. This won't limit choice in foods.

Foods will be just as tasty but healthier made with better fats.

Now the rest of the country....

DemEx

[novalib]

34. Pushing POISON Should be ILLEGAL!!

I feel that it should be ILLEGAL TO THE MAX to push ANY kind of poison -- including transfats.

NO restaurant should be allowed to sell any foods containing transfats -- or fois gras!!!!

[wuushew]

42. kick

:kick:

[NotGivingUp]

44. ban it. it's pure crap! they use it cuz it's cheaper...and they will

keep on using it cuz it's cheaper even though it's terrible for health...heart attack, cancer, etc.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

46. Fine with me.

What's next, people getting upset about laws against putting sawdust in ground beef as filler?

[Karenca]

47. Looks like

a certain group would argue that

the sawdust tasted good, and they want it put back!:crazy:

[calico1]

49. Not to mention the red dye they put in it

to make it look fresh. They better not take that out! I should have a choice whether or not to eat sawdust and dye!:silly:

[Karenca]

50. I truly cannot believe

people are pissed off that
PLASTIC
is being removed from their diets.:freak: