A Perspective on the Smoking Ban

[bailey]

I agree with Mikeg. It has nothing to do with the merits of smoking vs non smoking. If I'm not mistaken, I think restaurant owners in NYC can't serve anything with artifical transfats in it. http://www.nyc.gov/html/doh/html/car...transfat.shtml

When does it end?

In New York City, Trans Fat Ban Is Working

07.20.09, 05:00 PM EDT Success has spawned similar efforts across the U.S., report finds


MONDAY, July 20 [[HealthDay News) -- When the New York City Health Department mandated that city restaurants change their menus to restrict trans fats, known to be a health hazard, the action was greeted with resistance and grumbling.
"There were the usual 'nanny state' comments," said Dr. Lynn Silver, assistant commissioner of the department's Bureau of Chronic Disease Prevention and Control.
....
And they deem it a success. Total saturated fat and trans fat in French fries, for instance, decreased by more than 50 percent in New York City restaurants, according to the report. Overall, the health officials found, the use of trans fats for frying, baking or cooking and in spreads declined from 50 percent to less than 2 percent.
Consumers didn't seem to mind. "It became clear that trans fats were being successfully replaced, and no one noticed the difference," Silver said. "Foods tasted just as good, and diners are healthier."

Trans fats were often used, she said, because they last longer than traditional vegetable oil, but "there was nothing terribly delicious about trans fat."
Trans fats, also call partially hydrogenated oils, are made by adding hydrogen to liquid vegetable oils to make them more solid. The fats are commonly found in French fries, doughnuts and baked goods, as well as margarine and shortening.
The problem with trans fats, Silver and her colleagues wrote in their report, is that increasing intake by just 2 percent can increase the risk for a heart attack or other cardiovascular problem by as much as 23 percent. Trans fats raise bad cholesterol levels and lower good cholesterol levels.

Restaurants' fears that diners would protest or the ban would affect business didn't happen, Silver said, and the good news for restaurant patrons is that they don't have to guess about what they're eating as much as they once did.

Just look at the trans fat issue.... it's used because it's cheaper, but exponentially worse for the consumer. So, clueless consumer is eating an admittedly unhealthy thing like a doughnut and thinking, "ok, I'll have one and do an extra 15 minutes in the gym" Except , unknowable to the consumer and in order to save a few bucks , eating that one doughnut has the negative health effects of eating several..

So, when will regulations and government intervention end? Probably around the time merchants/restaurateurs..etc do the right thing because it's the right thing to do [[even though it costs a little more). Think that'll be the industry norm anytime soon?