In Scotland, new regulations are being considered that
would require pub proprietors to provide "sensible eating" advice to their patrons in order to get a license
to operate. Though it has not, at this point, been considered as an option, many fear that this is the first step
towards banning the sales of foods deemed to be unhealthy, particularly pub favorites like meat pies and fish and
chips. There has been a lot of outcry from industry members because these regulations would only affect pubs and not,
for example, actual fish and chip shops. One chef said that "it all depends what you think of as unhealthy. None
of our [traditional] food is unhealthy. It is all freshly prepared and cooked in our kitchen."
While most people can support regulating the foods that children have access to and encouraging them to eat healthily, telling adults what they may and may not eat is quite another matter. This very same issue has already sparked a lot of controversy in Chicago, where they recently banned the sale of foie gras. Some felt that that act, done in the name of curbing animal cruelty, was an infringement on their rights to eat whatever they want to eat, despite the fact that other meats, banned for the same reasons, meet fewer objections.
This brings up a good point: how much is too much? When there is a convincing underlying issue, such as animal rights, a sound argument can be put together in favor of regulations. But when the argument is "it's bad for you," well, that's just not convincing enough.
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