New York's Ban on Trans-Fat Looks Flawed

New York's Proposal to Ban Trans-Fat Pleases Activists, But Is It Sensible Public Policy? 

If I didn't know better, I would swear that my Mom has taken over NYC this holiday season to mandate what healthy food its sons and daughters will eat. New York City's board of health will vote in early December on whether it will ban restaurateurs from using trans-fat. Should the board succeed, New Yorkers craving an unhealthy Dunkin' Donut or a serving of McDonald's golden fries may soon have to sneak out of the house and cross the river to wild and woolly New Jersey.

The Economist this week argues three compelling reasons on why passing such a bill to help those who love to eat lots of fatty foods would be bad:

1. Unintended consequences
2. It's none of the city's business in the first place
3. The jury is still out on trans-fat

Despite the city's urge to legislate good health, the market has been working. As public awareness has grown on how too much trans-fat can lead to obesity and heart disease, market forces have pushed fast food chains to respond with healthier and lighter types of cooking oil (see It's All About The Oil).  Of note are these lines from The Economist on why the city may be pleasing activists but legislating bad public policy:

The reason for this trend [reducing trans-fat] is path-breaking research done by Harvard University's Walter Willett, which suggests that TFAs (which are mostly found in artificially-produced substances such as margarine and partially-hydrogenated cooking oils) increase insulin resistance and heart disease. Dr Willett reckons they lead to perhaps 50,000 premature deaths each year. The federal Food and Drug Administration, however, has not yet been persuaded by Dr Willett's research to impose a federal ban, so New York's officials are forging ahead on their own.

...The American Heart Association (hardly a yes-man for the food industry) notes that the phase-out may be too speedy: “If appropriate substitutes are not widely available in the food supply-chain, restaurants may substitute saturated fats, which are also strongly associated with the development of heart disease.” The New York State Restaurant Association (NYSRA) adds that TFAs are common now in part because health officials had previously urged everyone to cut down on saturated fats. Some food activists blame TFAs for other diseases as well, but the evidence is less strong. The city's approach is also somewhat arbitrary. Only artificial TFAs are banned.

...Smoking is banned in public places, as is using mobile phones when driving. But those vices involve clear externalities, like second-hand smoke and car crashes, that harm other people; gluttony does not. Charles Hunt of the NYSRA puts it this way: "Anything in excess is bad for you. What's next—bacon, ice cream?"

Photo by joaobambu