New York City to Ban Fats...

As a preface, I realize that some of you may ask what does this have to do with Florida politics. Well, New York City was among the first places in the country to ban in-door smoking. That effort moved around the country, eventually passing as a citizen's initiative here in Florida. Moreover, when the implementing legislation was being debated, opponents said, "What's next? Banning fat?" Apparently so. The New York City Health Department has proposed regulations that would ban all transfats from the city's food service establishments. The New York Times is reporting:

The New York City Board of Health voted unanimously yesterday to move forward with plans to prohibit the city’s 20,000 restaurants from serving food that contains more than a minute amount of artificial trans fats, the chemically modified ingredients considered by doctors and nutritionists to increase the risk of heart disease.

The board, which is authorized to adopt the plan without the consent of any other agency, did not take that step yesterday, but it set in motion a period for written public comments, leading up a public hearing on Oct. 30 and a final vote in December.

Yesterday’s initiative appeared to ensure that the city would eventually take some formal action against artificial trans fats. If approved, the proposal voted on yesterday by the Board of Health would make New York the first large city in the country to strictly limit such fats in restaurants.

Could we expect the same here? The American Heart Association was part of the alliance for the smoking amendment - and transfats have been shown to have a significant relationships with heart disease. And it is already moving across the country, again from the Times: "Chicago is considering a similar prohibition affecting restaurants with less than $20 million in annual sales." Smoking. Transfats. It's looking more and more like the San Angeles Metroplex from Demolition Man -- where everything that is bad for you is illegal -- is slowling coming true. Be well. Or else.