It's rare that I mention politics here but since this is food related, I guess I can make an exception.

As you may have already heard, Montgomery County is trying to ban trans fats from restaurants and government institutions like schools. While I personally try to avoid trans fats in my sons and my own diets, I see this a just another attempt of the the government trying to control what food I'm allowed to eat.

We already have plenty of laws like this. The state of Maryland already makes it nearly impossible to obtain wine due to the antiquated wine and beer laws that masquerade as a protection for my health. They'll even go to extreme lengths to protect that system, including endangering local Maryland wine producers from Maryland.

We're also not far away form the FDA banning raw milk from being sold and consumed nationally, and once again, this is more of our elected government attempting to protect me and you from ourselves. In fact, in the state of Maryland, it's already illegal to sell raw milk for human consumption. Certain Maryland officials have even compared it to selling illegal drugs. And if we're not careful, the FDA will ban all cheeses made from raw milk, regardless of how long they're aged.

The worst thing is that the Maryland state Senate is wasting their time. In a few years, trans fats will be extremely rare. National restaurant chains are running from trans fats like the plague because NOBODY WANTS TO EAT THEM! And all you see in the supermarket snack food isle nowadays is "NO TRANS FATS" in big bold letters on packaging with exclamation points on both sides.  The tide is turning and it's mostly because people are getting educated that trans fats are bad for them.

I will say that I'm fine with banning trans fats in schools mainly because kids don't have a choice where they eat. They have to eat what's served to them in the cafeteria, so yes, by all means, don't serve that crap to the kids. You and I, on the other hand, have a choice to eat what we want. If we want to eat French fries and a Big Mac for every meal despite the nutritional data that's plainly visible at the restaurant, then we know what we're doing to ourselves.

I'm curious what other people think about this...