If This Passes, Michael A. Cardozo* Needs To Start Preparing, Like, Now

If New Yorkers sometimes seem like they have a libertarian streak, it’s only because their government is often trying to do stupid shit like making food illegal:

But while more and more restaurants are already moving to rid their kitchens of trans fats, which are squarely tied to the increased risk of heart disease, New Yorkers’ reaction to the city’s proposal, approved unanimously on Tuesday by the health board, typically went something like, “Right, but on the other hand . . .”

Alan Rosen, one of the owners of Junior’s, said, “I don’t want to be told what to eat.” And Robert S. Bookman, a lawyer for the New York State Restaurant Association, said city health officials might be treading on a legal landmine. “I would be shocked if some national company does not sue,” Mr. Bookman said.

The plan would set a limit of a half-gram of artificial trans fats per serving of any menu item, and restaurants would have until 2008 to comply.

No one disputed the health risks of artificial trans fats, the chemically modified ingredients commonly found in fried foods, bread, doughnuts, salad dressings and other prepared foods, but most were ambivalent, if not upset, about the prospect of government intervention into their businesses, and their diets.

“Let me tell you, it is healthier, the product does taste better,” said Sanford Levine, 64, who owns the Carnegie Deli and has found alternatives to almost all its cooking oils and shortenings that contained high amounts of artificial trans fats. “Nobody has complained so far,” he said.

But there is also a matter of principle, Mr. Levine added.

“They shouldn’t tell a businessman how to run a business,” he said. “They can make suggestions, but I don’t think it should be the law.”

And if slippery slope arguments and principles don’t make you think this is a ridiculous idea, think about the prospect of a protracted legal challenge that may have constitutional issues — and while city attorneys argue the case, all the money that could have been spent for, say, educating children about trans fats:

Opponents said they could make a strong legal case against the proposed limit.

Mr. Bookman said he expected the limit to be particularly disruptive to some of the nation’s largest restaurant chains, like McDonald’s, which use trans fats in highly standardized recipes that could not easily be changed for New York City.

He said a legal challenge might be made on the grounds that the local restriction violates federal rules on interstate commerce, since some of the chains prepare their French fries and other menu items in other states, using trans fats in the process, before freezing them and shipping them to restaurants in New York.

“I don’t believe New York City has the authority” to interfere with the interstate food chain, Mr. Bookman said.

In an interview yesterday, Dr. Thomas R. Frieden, the city’s health commissioner, said he and his staff had considered potential legal challenges to the proposal.

“New York City has the ethical responsibility, and we think we have the legal jurisdiction to do it,” Dr. Frieden said. “If somebody brings suit, we will look at it.”

*Don’t know who he is? You will when he gets slapped down by the Supreme Court . . .