NYC health board votes to ban trans fats

New York City became the country's first city to ban artificial trans fats at restaurants after a unanimous vote by the Board of Health. The board gave restaurants until July 2008 to remove all artificial trans fats from their foods. Restaurant industry representatives found the ban to be bothersome. Dan Fleshler, a spokesman for the National Restaurant Association said "We don't think that a municipal health agency has any business banning a product the Food and Drug Administration has already approved." It is believed that trans fats are harmful because they contribute to heart disease by both lowering good cholesterol and raising bad cholesterol. Trans fats are created in the process hydrogenation, where liquid oils are made into solid fats. Trans fats are preferred because of their long shelf life. Mayor Micheal Bloomberg said "Nobody wants to take away your french fries and hamburgers — I love those things, too, but if you can make them with something that is less damaging to your health, we should do that." Fast food restaurants such as McDonald's, Wendy's, and Taco Bell are working to find ways to remove tran fat. NYC's ban has been mostly approved by health organizations. I found this new story to be interesting because if brings up the question how far should the government intervene in laws relating to people's health.