We live in a world where our MacDonald’s coffee is labeled “hot”, our pajamas have suffocation warning tags, (who knew you could be suffocated by cloth?!) and lawn darts and pool sticks are illegal. (Did you know that darts are sharp and sticks are pointy on the end? Why did no one ever tell me!) We live in a world where personal responsibility is “not my problem” and we have to be legally warned that hamburgers could make us fat. Wow. Do you see a problem with this? Or at least do you see that this is a bit strange and possibly unnecessary?
In 2003 bantransfats.com organized and led an international anti trans fat campaign which started by suing Kraft® (the Mac & Cheese people) in hopes of eliminating trans fat in Oreos. Later that year this same group sued McDonalds® for misleading its customers into believing that it had switched to cooking oil with less trans fat. This group helped make Tiburon California America’s first trans fat-free city. New York city adopted the same type of program eliminating trans fats in December of 2006 and Philadelphia in February of 2007. In 2008 California Legislature signed a statewide partial ban on trans fats, which will take effect in 2010 and 2011.
Do the majority of American’s even know what a trans fat is? I don’t know what trans fat is. According to Wikipedia (obviously the most reliable source on life the universe and everything) Trans Fat is the common name for hydrogenated oils, or unsaturated fat. A fat which contains trans-isomer fatty acids. This term refers to the splitting of the double carbon bond found in non-hydrogenated oils.
Maybe it’s just me… but don’t you think that the fat part of an Oreo is probably what makes it taste good? Let’s face it. Fat tastes good. Ice cream, French fries, burgers, Oreos, cookies, fried chicken, Twinkies, Spam (yes… spam), whipped crème, mousse, all the foods that have fat in them… TASTE GOOD! And guess what… it’s the fat that makes them taste good. You try making fried chicken with no oil, butter crème icing with no butter, or cookies with no lard. Have some of that delicious un-earthly yellow Kraft Mac and Cheese, and than try some gluten free, sugar free, fat free Mac and Cheese (you know the brown stuff with the consistency of wall paper paste) and tell me which one you’d rather have. You try telling me that the one with the fat isn’t just an ounce better tasting. Yeah, that’s what I thought. You like the fat. But…. apparently we aren’t supposed to eat fat. Apparently we can only be absolutely healthy all the time (pshaw… and people wonder why we have poor body images).
We’ve already established that fat tastes good, and we actually do need some kinds of fat in our diet. Unfortunately it’s the saturated kind. Trans fats are harmful because they contain hydrogenated oils. Hydrogenating oil, means that hydrogen atoms are added to unsaturated fats and the double atom bonds that defines saturated fats, are destroyed. Naturally our bodies are able to break down double atom bonds (such as those in saturated fats) better than single atom bonds (like those in trans/unsaturated fats). Plain and simple, our bodies don’t break down trans fats are easily as they break down other fats. HOWEVER! This does now mean that our bodies are incapable of breaking down this fat, or that in small quantities we can’t handle it. Hydrogenated oil (trans fat) was created by chemists in the early 1900s as a replacement for butter and other saturated fats when such products were first linked to heart disease. (Also, foods containing trans fats have a longer shelf life than their saturated siblings, and this comes in helpful during the proceeding wars) It was the sort of Frankenstein project of food scientists. Trying to fix an issue, only to create a delicious fatty monster.
In 2010 the California Legislature started debating the merit of toys in McDonalds Happy Meals. They argued that the toys were luring children to eat food that would cause them to be overweight and lead to long-term health problems. So basically, they were arguing that little plastic dinosaurs were causing children to grow up obese. Nice one. We might as well blame Barney for multiple personality disorders in children (every week a new child shows up, and an old one disappears… they have the same name but the old one was pale and the new one is Asian… anyone else see something strange going on? Apparently that’s normal….)
I can see the argument that a toy is a desirable thing for a child, and if going to McDonalds and eating fast food (with those dastardly hydrogenated oils) means they get a toy, children will do their best to convince their parents to frequent such establishments. That being said, I think it is the parents responsibility to help their children eat healthy foods. If a parent takes his child to McDonalds every day, and in 10 years the child is fat, one can hardly blame the toy. Parents are in control of what their children eat. Sure, most children would probably choose to eat the burger and fries in order to get the toy. That’s when I think something called “parenting” comes into play. It’s when the mom or dad says “Sorry honey, not today. Maybe another time.” Parents, you really can do it! You can say no! NO! NO! NO! But apparently parents can’t say no anymore. Guess their not suppose to. I guess a parent has to always say yes to their children. YES FATTY FOODS! YES! YES! YES!
Liebeck v. McDonalds, or the McDonalds Coffee case of 1994 is one of the most famous product liability lawsuits of the past 20 years. We all know the story of the woman who suffered third degree burned after she spilled her hot McDonalds coffee on herself, and than sued McDonalds for over half a million dollars and won. Yep, she spilled, she sued, she won. Welcome to America. I guess if I go to Panera and spill my soup, I can blame the store. Who knew it was their fault I’m a bit clumsy at times? I’m learning so much today.
It’s funny how no one wants to take the responsibility for their actions and would rather blame others for personal mistakes. Well no, it’s actually not funny. It’s kind of sad. Since when did it become so undesirable to say, “Hey, I spilled. Oops” or “Hm… maybe I shouldn’t have fed my child only French fries and ground beef, it might explain why he has a weight issue.” I always thought that fessing up to something you did wrong, was honorable. Maybe that’s changed. Maybe we are all really suppose to blame others. Maybe I am never wrong. Hm… Good to know.
I’m not trying to say that healthy food is bad, or that we shouldn’t try and eat healthy, what I am trying to do is display the absurdity that is a world where it is illegal to eat trans fats and where we have to be warned about the temperature of our beverages. God made us with brains and I’m pretty sure he intended for us to use them. Maybe we don’t need brains anymore. Maybe there will be new law soon.
“ALL INDEPENDENT THOUGHT TAKING RESPONSIBILITY FOR ONE’S MISDEMEANORS OR MISTAKES IS NOT ALLOWED. BLAME OTHERS, GET MONEY, AND DON’T EAT FRENCH FRIES. WARNING! HOT COFFEE IS HOT!”
Goodness America. Really?
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