The Board of Healths
decision yesterday to ban most artificial trans fats in all city restaurants reminds Power Plays of earlier efforts to force Americans to be healthy. Noting that the health boards move came as liquor ads hailed the 73rd anniversary of the repeal of Prohibition, the blog concedes restrictions on artery clogging gop might improve health. But it continues, “That’s exactly what the Temperance people said about booze. But ultimately, the temperance movement’s very rational arguments lost” out to “the right to do something profoundly unhealthyand funlike belly up to your favorite bar and order so many Harvey Wallbangers you forget your boss’s name.”
Improved Clinch agrees. “This city, which lays claim to the Statue of Liberty, which supposedly beckons to those desiring freedom, has decided that obesity is not to be addressed individually, but collectively, so that each individ al may suffer for the good of us all. Bollocks.” Interestingly, the blogs author identifies himself as “fly-fishing fanatic who wants to live to be 103.” Wonder if hes given up trans fat in that quest.
Others like the ban. “NYC has done what all people hope their governments will do, it has sought to make the world a safer place,” writes the Kahrman Blog.
The Daily News applauds the restriction in theory but wonders about the practice. “No one is absolutely sure that even a well-motivated restaurant industry can feasibly switch to less-damaging cooking oils and shortenings,” the paper writes. But, if it can, the editorial continues, “New York will have successfully enacted a pioneering public health program that keeps a critical segment of the city’s economy healthy too.”
Another move by the health board has been largely lost in the debate over whether soy-oil French fries will taste like the trans fat kind. The Times thinks that that rule, which would require most fast food restaurants and some other eateries to prominently display calorie contents of their food, could prove more important. “Savoring” the reaction of diners who find they are about to squander a huge chunk of their daily caloric allowance on a venti Caff or a triple Whopper with cheese, the paper says, “The likely shock when patrons realize just how many calories they are imbibing may provide just the right impetus to propel overweight customers toward a healthier diet.”
By Gail Robinson on December 6, 2006, 9:41 am
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