Seems kind of slippery-slopey...

[Sean]

The war for healthiness in food is continuing. The new target is salt:

Singer Jimmy Buffett will never find his "lost shaker of salt" in New York City or any other place in the country if Mayor Michael Bloomberg has his way. The mayor is waging a war on salt and he wants food manufacturers and restaurants to join his army…or else.

...Thomas Frieden, the city's health commissioner, said he wants manufacturers and restaurants to join the war on salt voluntarily. If they don't, the city could pass legislation making it the law.

To me, this certainly seems to be a step towards confirming the fears of people who argue that the legislation of food choices is a slippery slope. I'm curious to hear how the people who have been most vocal about that being a flawed way of thinking react to this story.

[BeautifulBurnout]

Heh!

Started here too!

Delia recipes "Loaded with Salt".

There are the beginnings of a government campaign to have salt levels reduced in everything we eat, as well as TV chefs reducing what they use in their recipes.

There is even a pressure group called Consensus Action on Salt and Health ffs, with a National Salt Awareness Week!

I for one don't tend to use huge amounts of salt in cooking, but I am old enough and intelligent enough to sort that one out for myself if I feel like it without the need of the nanny state to tell me what to do....

[Deckard]

I'm all for awareness-raising campaigns funded by public money.

Restrictions on advertising junk food to kids, and on ingredients in school dinners - bring it on. Absolutely no problem with those "incursions on liberty" for the net benefit I believe they will have.

Adults automatically become a different story, and from the quick glance I've had through that link, in this particular case I find myself agreeing with you.

Am I making these judgments arbitrarily? As I've said before, I'm perfectly happy to assess each of these things on a case-by-case basis, and weigh up what I think are the benefits versus the incursions on liberty. I personally don't feel compelled to take an ultra-liberal approach to all health and diet regulation based on the slippery slope argument, because it assumes we've taken - to date - the correct stance on every possible ingredient or chemical, legal or illegal and mustn't change anything - and I simply don't believe that.

[Strangelet]

i swear to god I can't believe this isn't an article at the onion. If I were a new yorker I'd be incensed by the condescension of it. These people won't rest until we live off three jars of wheat grass gerber baby food and report to copulsory yoga classes. i'm going to fucking spend the day glowering at the world through cigarette smoke and over cheeseburgers.

edit: that's actually me on a daily basis, but today it will mean something goddammit

[myrrh]

This is the dumbest thing I have heard in a while.

""Salt, when its high in the diet, increases the blood pressure and high blood pressure is a major factor for heart disease and stroke," said Dr. Sonia Angell of NYC's Cardiovascular Disease Prevention Program. "

What about just breathing the NYC air? When are the going to regulate how much of it we can breathe a day because it is a health factor?

edit: Or better yet... sex raises increases the blood pressure and high blood pressure is a major factor for heart disease and stroke...

[Dirty0900]

6 grams per day is considered healthy, but when grabbing some frozen ready thing, can't really watch what i'm chomping on.

Sure this'll lead to some pissing Jamie Oliver spin off show.

[Strangelet]

Originally Posted by myrrh

What about just breathing the NYC air? When are the going to regulate how much of it we can breathe a day because it is a health factor?

Or the fact that there's jet fuel additives in our chips, or just plain jet fuel in our drinking water, along with anti depressants, aspirin, and pain killers. Or mercury in our soft drinks and tuna fish, or paint thinner in our baby food.
No, lets go spend a bunch of time and money at the same breath we fire 5000 educators on salt. That way we can harrass the small businesses while letting big business continue to turn us into brain dead hairless sea monkeys.

[Deckard]

Originally Posted by Strangelet

Or the fact that there's jet fuel additives in our chips, or just plain jet fuel in our drinking water, along with anti depressants, aspirin, and pain killers. Or mercury in our soft drinks and tuna fish, or paint thinner in our baby food.

There's really only one solution: we should all just stick to brown nutrient-rich sludge, just to be safe. (It's the future, I've heard)

[BeautifulBurnout]

Originally Posted by Deckard

There's really only one solution: we should all just stick to brown nutrient-rich sludge, just to be safe. (It's the future, I've heard)

Are you sure you don't mean green?

[Sean]

Originally Posted by Deckard

There's really only one solution: we should all just stick to brown nutrient-rich sludge, just to be safe. (It's the future, I've heard)

I fully expect this to happen some day.

I really do want to hear from people who feel that the fear of a healthy food slippery slope is unfounded. I've always leaned towards the slippery slope theory on it myself, but have been somewhat on the fence - until now. It's becoming clearer and clearer that there are people in positions of power who, as they win each battle, will definitely be moving on to their next health food crusade, and then their next, and their next after that....