Officials seek solutions to obesity crisis
When Sen. Ellen Karcher proposed a ban on trans fats at restaurants in the Garden State last fall, she received so many threatening phone calls that state police closed her office and escorted her staff out the door. A talk radio station had urged listeners to call Karcher's office and complain, she said.
"It was so out of proportion," she said. "We're talking about replacing cooking oil to try to make New Jersey healthier and save some money" on long-term health costs.
She is the sponsor of one of two food-related bills to promote better health being considered by New Jersey lawmakers. Another bill would prevent most "junk" foods from being sold in schools until 30 minutes after the end of school.
Legislating food has become an issue du jour, as elected leaders around the country try to offer solutions to the nation's obesity crisis.
New York City and Philadelphia have passed measures banning the controversial cooking oil, which doctors say can raise bad cholesterol and lower healthy cholesterol. Trans fats are created when vegetable oil is treated with hydrogen to create foods with a longer shelf life.
A wide range of food and hotel chains, even cruise lines and airlines have announced their own voluntary trans fat bans. At least 16 states and some cities, including Los Angeles, have proposed bills to restrict or ban trans fat, said Amy Winterfeld, a health policy analyst with the National Conference of State Legislatures.
In New Jersey, some elected officials say the underlying reason for legislating food such as artery-clogging trans fats is as much a bottom line issue as a health one.
Federal and state governments, through Medicaid and Medicare, won't be able to afford the high costs of health care for so many obese people who could suffer from high blood pressure, diabetes and heart disease, said Herb Conaway, D-Burlington City, a New Jersey assemblyman and physician.
"It's appropriate for government policy-makers in the area of health to take steps to reduce health-care costs," he said. "One of the ways to do that is to legislate around some of these lifestyle issues related to food and exercise."
He is a co-sponsor of a school nutrition bill, separate from Karcher's bill, which has been approved by both New Jersey legislative bodies and is on the governor's desk. The law would limit what can be sold in vending machines to whole-grain products, fruits or 100 percent fruit juice, vegetables, nuts and other more healthful items.
Conaway introduced his bill even though the state's agriculture department already mandated healthier snacks for schools beginning this fall. Gov. Jon S. Corzine is considering signing the bill, said spokesman Brendan Gilfillan.
Marion Nestle, a professor of nutrition, food studies and public health at New York University, said she isn't surprised by the recent spate of local and state governments trying to regulate food.
"The federal government isn't doing it so there's an enormous regulatory gap," she said. "I think it's great the states are doing this. This is what a grass-roots democracy is about."
Since January 2006, the Food and Drug Administration has required trans fat content be listed on all packaged foods.
"It only makes sense to try to put our focus on prevention," Karcher said. "The state's bottom like will be healthier when we get some preventative measures in place."
New Jersey has already stepped up its interest in healthy eating in schools with a statewide campaign to encourage students to eat nutritious food and get more physical activity.
Karcher and Conaway aren't the only legislators talking about long-term health-care costs as a reason for the food bills.
In Connecticut, State Senator Andrew Roraback, a Republican, also introduced a ban, saying trans fats was as much a contaminant as E.coli and has an impact on the cost of health care.
"The reality is that everyone in society ends up footing the bill for a product which is not needed," he said. "There are alternatives, which taste as good or better and which are not nearly as lethal."
But Richard B. Berman, executive director of the Center for Consumer Freedom, said lawmakers should steer clear of food issues.
"Legislators find it much more convenient to pass feel-good legislation that is off budget -- it doesn't cost anything," he said. "It looks like they're protecting people, but the only cost is that people don't have a choice in certain foods."
William K. Hallman, director of the Food Policy Institute at Rutgers University, said banning trans fats could be the start of a dangerous trend.
"If banning trans fats is acceptable, what's the next thing that we should ban?" he said. "Where's the balancing point here between stuff we know is really good for us and the stuff that isn't good for us? Where's the role of consumer choice in this?"
In Michigan, state representative Lee Gonzales introduced a trans fat ban this month, saying government has a responsibility to help provide information to the consumer so they can make a healthier decision.
"We must eat," he said. "It's not like if you looked at something where people can opt in and opt out. We need to make sure that we have a healthier lines of foods to choose from."
Several companies have already announced their own self-imposed trans fat bans, including Marriott International Inc., Starbucks, the Walt Disney Co., JetBlue Airways Corp. and Aramark, a food services company that manages 4,000 accounts across the U.S. in universities, hospitals and stadiums.
"Our first responsibility is always to meet the taste preferences and health concerns voiced by customers," said Aramark spokesman Doug Warner.
-- Associated Press
Published: February 17. 2007 1:23PM if (!window.print) { document.write('
To print this article open the file menu and choose Print.
'); } else { window.print(); }
Obesity and Diet
Great review of all the trans-fat bannings that have gone on recently
