Big Brother is at it Again...

I see Big Brother is at it again. From FOXNews.com

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg wants the Health Department to add salt to a crackdown list of foods that includes a ban on transfats and a requirement for fast food restaurants to display nutrition labels.

Now Bloomberg wants to go nationwide, urging a ruling to limit the salt in prepared foods sold in the city by 25 percent by 2014.

Nutritionists say excessive dietary salt can cause increased blood pressure, which leads to heart disease, the No. 1 killer in America.

Nutritionist Keri Glassman said Americans consume about double the sodium they should, and the New York plan would not prohibit people from using a salt shaker.

"They're just trying to control the amount of salt that we get in our diet that we don't even know we're getting that we find in packaged processed foods. Let us take control, if you want to add some then that's your choice, but at least have the choice," she said.

But Justin Wilson, a senior research analyst with Consumer Freedom, said the "one-size-fits-all policy" applies to only a small part of the population, and not even everyone who needs it since "only 30 percent of people with high blood pressure need to reduce their salt intake."

"I think Mayor Bloomberg fancies himself to be a big brother," Wilson told Fox News. "He's slowly but surely regulating New Yorkers' diet to be just plain old bland. And I think it's just inappropriate for the government to mandate how much salt that we can eat, especially when you consider not everyone needs to have a low-salt diet."

Let us take control??? There ya have it folks - again, the government trying to control our individual choices. In two sentences, she used the word "control" as it applies to the government.

This resonates with me. You see, I have high blood pressure. And I'm a salt addict. My one New Year's resolution (I usually don't make them) is to cut down on my sodium intake. Now - do I need the government to help me do that? No, I don't. If people really want to watch their sodium intake, do what I've been doing...READ THE LABEL. Is there a lot of sodium in many products? You bet. Do many of them have low sodium alternatives already on the shelf? You bet.

I am so damned sick and tired of the government taking away choices from individuals. I'm being told what I can eat, drink, drive, how to raise my child. For God's sake - when will it end? If they can't ban it, they'll tax the hell out of it.

If people are too stupid to realize that fast food is fattening, then they need to educate themselves. If folks don't take the time to look at labels, then they have no one to blame but themselves. I contend that it is NOT the government's roll to dictate how each and every individual lives their life...it is NOT the government's roll to make personal choices for us.