Should "trans fats" be banned?

[Michaelangelica]

I was going to post this in the obesity thread but it dosn't really fit

 

http://washingtontimes.com/op-ed/20060929-083622-5749r.htm

Fat chance

 

September 30, 2006

 

New York City's health police are back on patrol. The Board of Health's latest effort is a proposed requirement to outlaw cooking with artificial trans fat. After an unsuccessful effort last year to convince restaurants to change voluntarily, the board is pushing to make the change mandatory. Within 18 months, restaurants would be required to change their ingredients to reduce the amount of trans fats to less than a certain level.

"Trans fat causes heart disease. Like lead in paint, artificial trans fat in food is invisible and dangerous," said New York City Health Commissioner Thomas Frieden. Dr. Frieden also contends that when New York restaurant-goers order food cooked in trans fat, "a hazardous, artificial substance," they are doing so "without their knowledge or consent." Trans fat is unhealthy -- in fact, all fried foods are unhealthy -- but it's not as poisonous as lead

[Jay-qu]

People should be held responsible for what they put in their mouths. Awareness is the key, they can choose to eat it if they want, just make sure they know what its doing to their bodies.

[ronthepon]

The ban should bepend on how unhealthy it is. You cannot try and ban anything unhealthy.

 

In my opinon, the ban should rest on how directly the substance affects the metabolism.

 

Instead, it must be compulsory for the restaurants to declare the trans fat in their food, and what it can do. As Jay-Qu said, awareness is the key.

[pgrmdave]

The government has no business telling me what to eat and what not to eat. If I want to eat trans-fats, I should be able to. The government is not my mother - they shouldn't treat the public as though we cannot make informed decisions.

[Racoon]

The government has no business telling me what to eat and what not to eat. If I want to eat trans-fats, I should be able to. The government is not my mother - they shouldn't treat the public as though we cannot make informed decisions.

 

While you have a valid point there pgrmdave...

 

Think of the Gov't expenses of Medicare and Medicaid. :cup:

HUGE! and Trans-fats will greatly contribute to the exponential rise in health care costs.. which Will cost you far more in the long run than finding a substitute for transfat. :)

 

The government has lots of business in telling you what and what not to eat.

Its called the FDA and the Department of Agriculture.

[Mercedes Benzene]

Hmmmm... let's see... banning trans fats???

Why don't we ban smoking first!! :)

Something like trans fats are nowhere near the top of the "public danger" list. As Jay-Qu said, people should be held responsible for their own choices. If they want to eat poorly, then let them.

Our community has much bigger problems at hand than regulating a self-regulable food constituent.

 

Think of the Gov't expenses of Medicare and Medicaid. :cup:

Smoking is far worse for tax payers. I say ban tobacco products if you want less governmental debt.

[pgrmdave]

I think that the government could provide incentives for restaurants to eliminate transfats, or have high taxes on transfats, but to ban them is neither enforcable nor reasonable. I think that a governmental ban would have serious unintended consequences for small restaurants and businesses that provide restaurants with transfats, foods using transfats, or other products along those lines.

[InfiniteNow]

The government has banned cocaine... does that keep people from using it, or does their common sense?

[pgrmdave]

Are you trying to compare cocaine - a highly addictive dangerous drug - to transfats - a part of an unhealthy diet? I fail to see the real comparison. Transfats are damaging to the body, but they are not addictive and they don't screw with your mind. I would be willing to bet that even if they were made illegal we wouldn't see a seedy black market for transfats. Banning addictive drugs makes sense - there comes a point when the government does need to step in and protect us from ourselves, but I don't think that fatty foods reach that point.

[InfiniteNow]

Are you trying to compare cocaine - a highly addictive dangerous drug - to transfats - a part of an unhealthy diet?

Not entirely, no. The idea I was trying to illustrate is that governmental banning is always secondary to the choices made by each individual. The government has banned lots of things which are still used or done by people. For example, in Texas, the government has banned sodomy.

 

Are transfats bad? Sure. Will banning them make them less prevelant? Yep. However, it will still be the responsibility of each individual to avoid ingesting them if they wish to make that choice.

[Racoon]

Hmmmm... let's see... banning trans fats???

Why don't we ban smoking first!! B)

Something like trans fats are nowhere near the top of the "public danger" list.

 

As Jay-Qu said, people should be held responsible for their own choices. If they want to eat poorly, then let them.

 

First off, they have banned smoking in numerous public places where it imposes a health risk.

 

Secondly, while your 8 year old may not be able to get his hands on a pack of cigarettes, he/she can sure likely get trans-fat laden/hidden food.

 

Thirdly, the Medicare costs. While some people choose a healthy lifestyle, many people do not. Many people pass on that Medical Bill to the tax-payers.

And its not in the hundreds of millions, But probably in the hundreds of Billions.

 

Should I be able to stop you from shoving your pie-hole full of Trans-fatty foods? No.

But should I have to pay a significant percentage of my taxes and wages to pay for peoples medical bills who disregard those health concerns? No, but we do.

 

The Other point I was trying to make, is while pgrmdave thinks there should be no government interferrence with his food choices/options, that indeed they already do! and heavily...

If you don't believe it, then you should research the authority that is the Federal Food and Drug Administration and U.S.Department of Agriculture has to say about all of it. :lol:

 

Have I said Ban it? No. but I'm making a case.

If trans-fat and cigarettes and booze are legal. Then so should all things.

 

Becuz' if you're gonna' say Item A will kill you, but its legal. and Item B will kill you, but you legally can't have any.. then its hypocritical bullshit..

 

The consumer should be left completely free to his/her own devices!

[HydrogenBond]

The boneheads of politics are at it again. They need to be dope slapped. If health is a concern, they should offer two menus. If one is overweight they get the politically correct menu. If one is at a healthy weight they have a choice from the politicallty correct or the more tasty menu. This will either give the fat people insentive to get thinner so they can eat what they want, or we will protect them from themselves.

[Racoon]

For the most part food companies have already gotten the whiff of consumer concern and are making it a point to omit the trans-fat from their ingredients.

You can see it on a lot of packages now. "Trans-fat Free"

 

The market will correct itself accordingly and adjust to consumer demands and loyalties.

 

:)

[HydrogenBond]

If one eats everything in moderation it should not pose a problem. But there is a one size fits all mentality that is willing to discriminate against those who don't need big mother to take care of them.

[Cedars]

No.

 

Finite resources, human population explosion, and with all of the other issues that potentially will compromise the future of humans on this planet, why in the world would any governmental entity be trying to mandate that people must live longer???

 

I say let people eat trans-fats by the spoonful while smoking a cigar....

[HydrogenBond]

The answer is capitalism. By removing trans-fats via regulation it opens the door to a whole new range of goods and services that can not compete with better tasting food. The proposed regulation is also a one-two shuffle. Besides creating new industries it will also increase employment among the lawyers, law enforcement and legal system. One will have to go to an underground resturant and pay premium tax free price for tasty food. This offers kickbacks to the police and politiians who get to eat for free.

 

My problem with the medical establishment is that it is hard to separate good capitalism from good intension. If one is sick and insurance covers everything, there is a capitalist motivation to provide excessive service. Who can argue against a doctor trying to do everything for you, whether you need it or not. If the medical community had to provide the excess care out of the goodness of their hearts, the extend of treatment would drop, because more than a good heart is behind the motivation.

[learnin to learn]

I do not think that the government should ban trans fats, I think that trans fats should be regulated. The Us government was formed to protect the people of America from all harm, that includes from ourselves.

The American people as a whole are making and spending more money than ever before. Meaning more money is being spent on food! Not healthy foods, but junk foods, fast foods, candy, foods high in fat content. There is nothing wrong with going to Burger king or McDonald's once a week or eating a candy bar a couple times a week. But when one eats fast food almost every night, and consumes multiple candy bars a day, THEN it becomes a problem. The more trans fats we consume, the greater chance we are to get diabetes or to have a stroke.

Especially young athletes like myself. We push our bodies to the limit, increasing our heart rates while exercising. Due to the amount of trans fats many young athletes are eating their performance is affected. Why? because their arteries become clogged preventing blood flow resulting in shock and sometimes resulting in a stroke.

So in conclusion I voted yes even though I do not believe that trans fats should be banned all together! I think that the government should take steps to keep us healthy. In the long run we live better lives, we save money and the government sure as hell will save money!