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December 06, 2006
The Nanny City Watching Your Diet
Welcome to New York City, where we watch your diet, even if you won't. Jenny Craig, mayor.
NYC's effort to ban trans fat has been in the works for a while, but it's hard to believe that anyone believes it is the job of government to determine what we eat. I love that Wendy's and others are taking corporate responsibility and removing trans fats from their products. That makes it far easier for consumers to make wise decisions. But how does anyone find a role for government in these personal decisions?
Posted by Jim at December 6, 2006 09:17 AM
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I couldn't agree more! I no longer eat these foods, but it must be an individual decision, or, as you say, the decision of the food provider.
Posted by: shadowmom1 at December 6, 2006 05:21 PM
The free market works when there is good information and when the buyers and sellers are honest (or at least where their dishonesty is discoverable). Government-mandated nutrition labels on packaged food now reveal what manufacturers wanted to conceal for so long--how much trans fat is contained in the product. Thanks to government action, educated shoppers can decide how much they want to consume. It's elitist to think that solved the problem, since not everyone is educated or informed about the dangers (after all, there's no WARNING about trans fats on the label). Government also has a role to play in educating the public about dangerous food additives.
But at restaurants there aren't even labels. Banning the dangerous industrial additive is much easier, with lower transaction costs and less red tape, than mandating a food label on each menu item.
So the question isn't whether government should be involved, it's about the proper role of government. And that's a decision for the democratic process.
Posted by: rustyp at May 16, 2007 11:21 PM