Drop That Fry Pan and Come Out With Your Hands Up

The nanny state is threatening to strike again in New York City. They banned smoking in restaurants a few years ago, and now they're talking about banning....trans fats:

Three years after the city banned smoking in restaurants, health officials are talking about prohibiting something they say is almost as bad: artificial trans fatty acids.

The city health department unveiled a proposal Tuesday that would bar cooks at any of the city's 24,600 food service establishments from using ingredients that contain the artery-clogging substance, commonly listed on food labels as partially hydrogenated oil.

Artificial trans fats are found in some shortenings, margarine and frying oils and turn up in foods from pie crusts to french fries to doughnuts.

Doctors agree that trans fats are unhealthy in nearly any amount, but a spokesman for the restaurant industry said he was stunned the city would seek to ban a legal ingredient found in millions of American kitchens.

Back during the illegal immigration protests we were all treated to "a day without immigrants" (which actually created the most traffic-free day I've ever seen in Southern California), so maybe New York City should have a day without restaurants and show the fools in the food police what might happen if they enact their silly ban.