According to the NY Times, "The New York City Board of Health voted yesterday to adopt the nation’s first major municipal ban on the use of all but tiny amounts of artificial trans fats in restaurant cooking, a move that would radically transform the way food is prepared in thousands of restaurants, from McDonald’s to fashionable bistros to Chinese take-outs."
This is another initiative by NYC mayor Bloomberg, a major supporter of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health (named after him.)
And, like control of smoking or soft drinks in schools, there are battle lines forming over advocates of public health measures and arguments over freedom of choice and governmental intrusion. It reflects the transition of public health from focusing on sanitation and epidemics of infectious disease to epidemics of obesity and other man-made disorders that we bring upon ourselves or each other by life-style and business decisions.
It also reflects the theme of public health of stepping back from the problem, such as diabetes, and continually asking where that came from, tracking diabetes back to obesity and obesity back to availability of health foods in today's urban and rushed world.
The article, "New York Bans Most Trans Fats in Restaurants"
by Thomas J. Lueck and Kim Severson
December 6, 2006
continues
Some experts said the measure, which is widely opposed by the restaurant industry, would be a model for other cities. Chicago is considering a similar prohibition that would affect restaurants with more than $20 million in annual sales.
and
While the trans fat regulation captured the most attention, the Board of Health approved a separate measure — also the first of its kind in the country — requiring some restaurants, mostly fast food outlets, to prominently display the caloric content of each menu item on menu boards or near cash registers.
Health officials said displaying calorie counts was meant to address what is widely regarded as a nationwide epidemic of obesity.
The city’s prohibition on trans fats, which would be phased in starting in July, was a victory for Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, an outspoken health advocate, and his activist health commissioner, Dr. Thomas R. Frieden.
Both measures have come under fire as impractical and unwanted intrusions by the government into free enterprise and civil liberties.
“This is a misguided attempt at social engineering by a group of physicians who don’t understand the restaurant industry,” said Dan Flesher, a National Restaurant Association spokesman.
Photo credit: Bertoz
technorati tags:NYC, newyork, transfats, restaurants, ban, publichealth, obesity, regulations, bloomberg
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