NYC bans trans fat

OK – I am really of two minds on this. On the one hand, trans fats are terribly bad for you and there are many acceptable substitutes available. Indeed, I do a good bit of the cooking for my family and cannot remember the last time I used partially hydrogenated vegetable oil. But on the other, do we really want governments prohibiting the use of certain ingredients, which if eaten in moderation, pose no real health risk?

I was once a fast food junky and while I still enjoy the occasional Wendy’s Single with cheese, I have cut the fried food from my diet almost completely. After seeing what thirty days of MacDonald’s did to Morgan Spurlock in Super Size Me, I didn’t need much more encouragement. But seriously, have we become a nation that must be saved from ourselves? To put it another way, should we be free to eat ourselves to death, if that is what we choose to do?