Does anyone else feel that laws in some cities making trans fats illegal is going too far?

We are too stupid to eat properly, and the USDA is not
much more than a handmaiden for big ag, which is contentnto engineer our food however suits them. The fact that municipalities are actually trying to keep us from ingesting a toxin that most aren’t aware of or would be reasonably able to avoid in the process of procuring a meal, especially in urban areas that may already be nutritionally impoverished is a good thing IMHO.

@kevbo

I can see your point but at the same time I don’t entirley agee with calling trans fats toxins, I think thats a little harsh. I still believe that people should have the right to choose, as some people are perfectly capable of blanacing food with trans fats with healthier food.

Like I said I get the sense of what you’re saying and I dont think theres a perfectly reasonable solution either way, but in the end I have to give it to personal choice.

I’m not against choice, but choice implies being informed. We’re falling a little short these days on being informed.

I agree with @kevbo People these days don’t know how or what to eat.

I don’t think it should be illegal, but I do think a lot of people are too stupid. I should also say that I am not obsessed with this whole trans fat thing (my cholesterol is much lower eating margarine than butter), I worry about the amount of fat in restaurant food period. Trans fats aren’t ok, but lard is? I would like to have easy access to what is in the food I eat, a nutrition card at a restaurant, things like that would be very nice. In NYC they have calorie counts on foods at chain restaurants, I think that is great.

Just yes.

Laws outlawing transfats isn’t going a little too far, it’s a lot too far.

As far as most of us being too stupid to eat properly, well….take a walk through the mall and you might come to agree with that.

The city cannot ban trans fats except in restaurants etc which need health permits. First of all trans fats are not things that make your french fries delicious, They are chemically treated fats that allows the restaurant to use the same grease for days. UGH!! If they can’f use trans fats they will have to use nauural fats that will make the food taste better and because the old fat has to be cleaned out, you will either get the smaller portion or pay 10 cents more to supersize

If you can’t break your hydregenated addiction, then march right down to the store and pick up some nice oreos or twinkies or any other treat that leaves that greasy lining in your mouth.

well @hookecho baby, I am glad trans fat is banned, because this is one more thing you don’t need to consume.

I guess I am sort of a dictator, but i have no problem with the state banning trans fat or tabacoo. But maryjane and alochol is okay because they are fine in moderation.

Love you, hookecho :)

Individually we may be smart enough to eat properly, but look around you, as a whole we ARE to stupid to eat properly.

That’s going way too far.

Too far, I think.

It is too far. It is also misguided. It’s the mentality of over-eaters that needs to change, not the availability of fatty foods.

Yes people are probably too stupid to avoid trans fat and take care of themselves.

…but I think government has no place telling people what they can eat. In theory, people shouldn’t eat trans fat at all. I still believe, however, that they should be free to do it if they want.

But then agian this is coming from someone who’s basically a libertarian on things like this and who thinks marijuana and other drugs should be legal because people should be able to choose for themselves, even if it’s a stupid decision.

@elchoopanebre et al If it makes you happy, don’t look at it as the govt telling people what they can’t eat, the govt is telling restaurants what they can’t sell-like moldy bread-if you are determined to eat it, go ahead, McD’s isn’t allowed to sell it.

I agree completely one of the great deciding factors of freedom is that you are free to make bad choices….putting people in situations where they can only do what others perceive as best for them is not any kind of freedom..people are getting dummer because the responsibility for our own lives is taken away from us…its always someone else’s fault in today’s culture of lawsuits…its part of human development to learn from mistakes if you are not given the freedom to make them how shall you learn? the choice to eat stuff thats bad for you should be your own just because some people knowingly stuff themselves to whale proportions it shouldnt deprive the rest of us the choice to eat something crap now and again if we feel the need.,....i had this rant on an earlier topic about chicken nuggets

You have to think about the government’s public policy too. If they are banning trans fat, they’ve probably done some research and data analysis. Healthy eating could save the government health care costs. I can bet that there is s link with the current health reforms.

And no one, I repeat, no one can resist temptation forever. If I see Oreos sitting in the aisle at eye-level and feel good music playing in the background, I’m gonna pick up a couple of boxes. People have to be forced to do what’s for their own good.

@atlantis So would you be in favor of banning hydrogenated oils completely? In packaged goods also? And HFCS, all of that stuff that some people are saying are bad for you currently?

@JLeslie Yeah. I may be exaggerating but there is currently a rift in my family over healthy eating. My parents are over fifty and my youngest sister is sweet sixteen. She wants to have, how shall I put it, FOOD. So she will get Oreo flavored ice cream for breakfast. Midnight snacks like coke and chips. And it’s rubbing of on my parents. I, and sometimes my mom, is the only person who try to maintain some semblance of health. But it is very hard. It’s like another political orientation or something. And My father’s had three brothers who died of cancer. So yeah I wanna ban it all.

@atlantis Wow, that would cut out probably 50% of the food products sold in America lol (I totally made up that stat, I have no idea what percentage really). True if it is in your house just sitting there in front of you it is hard to resist. Even if Oreos were made with everything natural and had a short shelf life they would be bad for you. I don’t think banning hydrogenated oils would solve your entire problem.

@JLeslie not really an exageration. Fats quickly break down if they aren’t refrigerated or kept in air-tight containers. Think what happens to real butter cookies if they sit out on the counter (maybe not a good example because a plate of cookies isn’t going to last that long but just imagine) The hydrogenization stabilizes the fats in all commercial baked products. Without it you would have to buy fresh bread, cookies, crackers, etc every few days. Think of a world without Hostess cupcakes!!

@galileogirl it is only part of the problem. If we focus on obesity, fat is fat, calories in. If you focus on other healh issues then MAYBE all of this is true. Bread doesn’t have fat and cholesterol in it, unless you are eating challah or some other specialty bread that they add fat, although we could argue that commercial breads have some sorts of preservatives that are bad for you, we can say that for most packaged food. Cookies would have butter instead of hydrogenized fats, and honestly that makes my cholesterol go up, but I am genetically bad. I have tested myself over time, cutting out margarine and eating butter, cutting out sugars, cutting out egg yolks, etc. done separately to really get a handle on what is affecting my cholesterol and there is not a question that if I eat cholesterol my cholesterol goes up. If I cut out egg yolks and sweets in a month my cholesterol drops 50 points. I have proven this over and over again when I bother to eat better. For me, I have to cut out all of the crap to be healthy I think. It seems there is not a good cookie for me. But, it would be wonderful to have everything made fresh, without preservatives, not packaged, I agree with that.

If a home baked cookie sits on the counter it lasts a long time, I’m not sure of your analogy? I think the hydrogenated stuff is probably cheaper? I know people who leave butter out on the counter, because they like it to be always spreadable, it stays solid too. The hydrogenated oils are being compared to liquid oils I think. Butter and other animal fats are solid at room temperature.

@JLeslie At my house cookies don’t stay long, believe me. The whole idea is the city isn’t telling us what we can eat, they are telling restaurants what they can’t sell. It’s not just about obesity, it is that hydrogenated fats are less than healthy in any significant amount. You can eat as much as you desire but restaurants can’t offer only an unhealthy product. Like you might enjoy week old ground meat or you might buy past dated meat because it is cheaper but the city has the right and duty to forbid restaurants from serving old rancid meat.

As far as why the food industry is opposing it is pure econonomics. Heat changes the chemical makeup of fats but adding hydrogen molecules hides the rancid flavor. The consumer is getting chemically altered fats that are multiple times more unhealthy than regular fresh product. The industry saves a few cents per serving times billions of servings.

In many ways this is reminiscent of the fight over smoking in restaurants. Eventually people came to see that it wasn’t about the government trying to control people, it was about the government making restaurants provide a healthy environment for staff and customers.

@galileogirl your analogy to rancid meat is persuasive. I will consider it. But, I am not yet persuaded that hydrogenated is really worse for you than the other stuff that might be used. I am not saying this to argue with you about whether it is or not, I know the common belief out there is that it is killing everyone. Again, I do not think eating bunches of cookies is good no matter how they are made. In my opinion the worst thing about how people in America eat today is that they eat too much.

Smoking caused direct harm and discomfort to other patrons, so that was different in my mind.

@JLeslie -You are free to do whatever you want. Reuse fat 100 times in your home fryer if that’s what floats your boat. I want the city to prevent restaurants from serving me fries cooked in oil that has been in constant use for the last month. Nasty old oil causes direct harm to eaters in that the chemical changes caused by repeated heating and the infusion of hydrogen molecules cause a negative reaction in our arteries and veins. It is not what I ‘feel’, it is what the scientists are seeing in our bodies.

To make it as plain as I possibly can, we are not talking about overeating or calories or taking away your right to oreos. That is just how it’s being framed by the opponents. I’m saying restaurants can’t get away with selling unhealthy substances just because it saves them money. I don’t think deep fried food is inherently unhealthy but preparing them in chemically altered fat is unhealthy.

@galileogirl I overlooked one of your points that agree with, I don’t want restaurents to be able to re-use oil over and over again 100 times, that I agree with. That is different than an oreo. It is two different things.

i disagree with @JLeslie and @galileogirl people have been re using oil in fryers for almost as long as the food industry has been going….i dont want my whole environment to be some super safe sterile place ..getting bacteria into your system is vital for building up immunity…our manic over cleanliness is what causes a lot of problems for today’s children if they never encounter much bacteria growing up as soon as they do their immune systems have no experience of dealing with it and it totally floors them…your system can adapt to things and so it should we’re de-evolving because we change so much of our environment instead of being normal animals and occasionally ingesting filth, 50 years ago there wernt kids born who ere allergic to everything and now they are everywhere granted their have been a lot of good improvments aswell…but thats just how i see it

@noodle_poodle carcinagens have been found in oil that has been used over and over. I don;t think any bacteria are living in the hot oil.

@noodle_poodle You said “getting bacteria into your system is vital for building up immunity”…

Your environment doesn’t have to be sterile but you don’t expect to pay for dinner and get salmonella for free. A mild case of gastroenteritis might mean 24–48 hours in extreme pain and missing work. If I eat cousin Sally’s potato salad that has been sitting uncovered at the picnic, that is my risk. I expect a professional kitchen to present wholesome food because after all, thats what they are paid for. I not only expect it, I want laws to be enforced to prevent food poisoning.

Hydrogenated oils, especially after repeated reheating cause artheriosclerosis because the human body is less able to deal with chemically engineered foods

Not going to school?

It’s a folly to make naturally occurring trans fats illegal. Should we tell the bacteria in ruminants that stomachs are off limits? Industrial processes are a different story though.