HEALTH: The FDA finally moves to ban trans fats.
by Chance Ornelas-Skarin, Staff Writer
Say goodbye to your muffins and donuts, because the United States Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) is now on its way to banning the trans fats that reside in many of the unhealthy treats we enjoy so much. Honestly, no matter how good they taste, it is probably better that we live without the many unhealthy foods that contain trans fats. On November 7, the USFDA announced the official ban on trans fats. This caused many complaints about the idea that the government is taking away our rights by telling us what to eat—but the truth is that part of the government’s job is to protect its people. While we don’t complain about the government’s protection from terrorists, we do complain when it tells us not to eat something that, according to the American Heart Association, “increases [our] risk of developing heart disease and stroke.”
Of course the government is not perfect and it will not eliminate all threats to our health. However, this does not mean that we should create an uproar when the people responsible for protecting our health do their job, even with only one thing at a time. We should be happy to have a branch of government that helps protect its citizens. Tiburon, California was the first city to ban trans fats and New York City was the second. A domino effect followed, causing our own state cutting trans fats from restaurant menus, as shown on the website (bantransfats.com). Entrepreneur, the online business magazine, reports that “average trans fat content of customers’ meals dropped from about three grams to 0.5 grams after the New York City ban was enacted.” New York’s example helped start a speedy movement to eliminate trans fats; many products that used to contain such fats have now reduced or completely eliminated them. This removal will impact a great number of people, as revealed by USFDA Commissioner Margaret A. Hamburg, M.D.: “eliminating trans fats could prevent an additional 20,000 heart attacks and 7,000 deaths from heart disease each year.”
People complain that the government is becoming an overprotective “nanny state” and even protest that things like cigarettes should be banned if trans fats are banned. However, the government is justified in not complying with this demand. Cigarettes are far more addictive than intangible dangers like trans fats; therefore, when people pick up a cigarette they make a conscious choice to smoke because they want to, or in some cases, feel like they have to. The New York Times article “An Overdue Ban on Trans Fats” provides evidence that companies can hide these trans fats since they are allowed to “label their products as containing zero grams of trans fats per serving if they have less than half a gram.” This means that consumers can consume a significant amount of trans fats without knowing it by consuming more than one serving of certain products. Trans fats are an important ingredient to remove from our food; if we do, 7,000 fewer people will die and many more will have much healthier lives. Though people may think that this type of government action is overprotective and intrusive, it is the job of the government to protect us, even in the small ways.