Should Trans Fats Be Banned?

Well it's Friday again and now that my dad is an internet celebrity I would not dare miss this post!

Drum roll please ... as promised, here's the link to my new blog Follow Me Slim

Of course I will continue to post bi-weekly here as I really have become quite attached to Health Essentials and find that writer's block is never a problem for me.

I came across an article in Zest magazine recently on trans fats, the gist of which was an argument for continued, heightened lobbying of the UK government to ban trans fats. Apparently they are banned already in Denmark, Switzerland, New York, Boston and California.

For those of you who have been fast asleep, trans fats are chemically altered vegetable oils that are ubiquitous in processed biscuits, confectionery and fast foods. The devil of the fat world ... a shortcut to heart disease and a regular feature in many shopping carts.

Some high profile food manufacturers and retailers (including Tesco, M & S and McVitie's) have voluntarily removed them from their products, prompting the Food Standards Agency (FSA) to advise government last year that a ban was unecessary.

My position? I'm against banning anything that doesn't involve abuse of humans or other creatures. If segments of the British population want to eat themselves into an early grave, that's their perogative. No one's going to ban booze, which is every bit as harmful to people's health in the quantities most are imbibing ... and has the added bonus of causing offensive behaviour.

Then there's cigarettes, fumes from manufacturing, vehicle fumes, industrial chemicals, air fresheners, soft drinks ... should I go on?

Banning things is like dieting. It won't change the mentality of people any more than a magic bullet will teach people healthy consumption habits.

But we'll still keep looking.