Trans fat doesn't stir much 'nanny state' debate

[November 09, 2013]  WASHINGTON (AP) -- They are among our most personal daily decisions: what to eat or drink. Maybe what to inhale.

Now that the government's banning trans fat, does that mean it's revving up to take away our choice to consume all sorts of other unhealthy stuff?

Salt? Soda? Cigarettes?

Nah.

In the tug-of-war between public health and personal freedom, the Food and Drug Administration's decision to ban trans fats barely rates a ripple.

Hardly anyone defends the icky-sounding artificial ingredient anymore. It was two decades ago when health activists began warning Americans that it was clogging their arteries and causing heart attacks.

Mostly, Americans' palates have moved on, and so have their arguments over what's sensible health policy and what amounts to a "nanny state" run amok.

[Associated Press; By CONNIE CASS]

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