BurningDoom wrote:I think you're missing the point. The U.S. government aren't our mommies and daddies. They're sticking they're nose where it doesn't belong. They shouldn't have the right to tell us what we are allowed to eat and aren't allowed to eat. That's crazy. We're supposed to live in a free country.
The U.S. Government is not telling you what you can and cannot eat. Rather, the Food & Drug Administration ("FDA") has decided - based upon significant scientific evidence - that artificial trans-fats, like arsenic, bleach, and lead, are "not for human consumption". Like arsenic, bleach, and lead, however, you are free to ingest as much of it as you would like. Likewise, you are still free to purchase and sell artificial trans-fat. The only requirement is that you label any foods containing them as "not for human consumption." This label will educate anyone who purchases these foods that they contain something that the FDA has concluded is "not for human consumption", and the label serves to eliminate any information assymetry between the buyer of the food product and the seller. (Informational assymetry prevents the functioning of free markets, and minimizing informational assymetry is a government function recognized by even the most strident libertarians.) Given the labeling requirement, however, and based on a justified fear of liability, it is understandable that most food manufacturers will probably refrain from placing artificial trans-fats in their products any longer. (I am certain, however, that artificial trans-fats will remain in food products sold in less regulated markets - such as China, central America, and Somalia - so you can always import them if you find that natural saturated fats just aren't cutting it.)
