Chefs Call Proposed New York Salt Ban 'Absurd'

Land of Freedom wrote on Mar 11^th, 2010 at 2:57pm:


This is one of the most ridiculous bans i ever heard of. This is in effect classifying salt as a drug on the restaurant circuit.  Why ban a food that is just hurting an individual instead of another person. Think about it.

Its because the government cant afford healthcare. And Americans have too much salt. The only way to make it all affordable to force us to be more healthy.

Or you know, let people pay for themselves.

If this country had unlimited wealth an argument like this might be defensible on health grounds, provided that the diner still had the right to more salt if he wished it. The problem is that every intrusion like this into free behaviour, which affects no one but the individual(s) directly involved, always creates a new, expensive bureaucracy which operates outside of free market competitive controls and, therefore, is free to grow and consume more wealth in an unproductive manner, with only political controls over the process.

If enough assets are available to do things like this I would appreciate it if, instead, the local government could restore inspections of the free scales available at markets to allow shoppers to verify that they are not being ripped off. At present I have to weigh my purchases again when I check out at the market and have found variations of up to 35% in the weight of meat. Will I have to bring my own scales next? Maybe my view on this particular subject is not strictly a libertarian or "free market" one. I don't know.

Yes, I guess that's the way they did it in the Middle Ages, and it worked. Shopkeepers or tradesmen were members of a "guild", and if someone was cheated they reported it to the guild, and after an investigation the shopkeeper was punished or thrown out and couldn't get more customers. No government meddling needed!