Grocers object to Obama calorie requirements under health care law.  Another group is objecting to another part of President Obama's new health care law:  Grocers.  "The lobbyist for grocers including Kroger Co. and Safeway Inc. is calling on President Barack Obama to curtail a U.S. health law provision that mandates the companies display the calorie content of all their foods," reports Bloomberg News.

[NY] City Education Department cracking down on school kitchens' use of butter.  Butter was exiled from school cafeterias as far back 2008 in an effort to make meals healthier.  But some school kitchen managers say they are being 'bullied' on how to prepare meals and threatened with 'disciplinary action' should they go against the ban.

The Candy Man Can't.  A soda fountain in St. Paul may be fined $500 by city inspectors for selling candy cigarettes.  Lynden's Soda Fountain opened a few months ago but was recently warned it was violating the city's ban on candy cigarettes, passed in 2009.  It said it won't keep selling the candy cigarettes or bubblegum cigars, but it is promoting the incident.  "Stop in and try a Soda at half price between now and the end of the year while sugar is still legal!" the store stated in a Facebook post.

Miami code enforcement to nuns: Stop feeding the poor.
Mother Teresa's Miami soup kitchen harassed by the powerful.  Thirty-three years ago, Mother Teresa of Calcutta came to Miami to put her merciful motto of love into action:  "To serve the poorest of the poor."  Since then, each morning a group of sisters of the congregation of the Missionaries of Charity, donning their distinctive white blue-bordered saris, passes through the gates of their beloved Overtown convent — where they live without air conditioning, washing machines or television — and cross the street to enter the world of the poor:  a soup kitchen founded by Mother Teresa.

The Skinny on Anti-Obesity Soda Laws.  New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg's anti-obesity campaign to ban the sale of certain sugary drinks in large servings, especially sodas, was struck down last month in state court. [...] Yet Mayor Bloomberg has vowed to fight on, and the wider government war on obesity shows no sign of abating.  Municipalities and states continue to target sodas.  In February, a bill to levy a penny-per-ounce tax was introduced in California.  Politicians and the media like to portray anti-obesity efforts as a battle against a food-industry conspiracy to make America fat.

Stupid Food and Drink Bans.  Anyone, any city, and any governing body that passes laws to ban what you eat and drink has not read the U.S. Constitution.  There is nothing in there granting them the power to decide what you eat and how much.

NYPD Food Felonies Unit to Help Make Better Food Choices.  Inspired by the dramatic improvements in New Yorkers' health and well-being after he banned smoking and junk food, as well as large sodas, salt, trans fats, Styrofoam food containers, and loud earbuds, Mayor Michael Bloomberg has announced that the NYPD is organizing a Food Felonies Unit (FFU) to further combat the proliferation of food crimes.

Smoke Gets in Your Rights.  One politician thinks he has the right to tell New Yorkers what they can put in their stomachs.  Another thinks he has the right to outlaw Californians smoking in the sanctity of their own homes.  These two must think they are gods or kings.  Or dictators.  They know what's best for you, so they feel free to force you to behave — for your own good.

Administration Unleashes Food Police on the U.S. Military.  U.S. military bases are traditionally outfitted with some of the comforts of home — including comfort food.  The naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, for example, has McDonald's, KFC, Starbucks, Subway, an Irish pub with notorious fried pickles, and multiple bars.  Now, the food police are closing in at the Department of Defense, with similar language that preceded school menu crackdowns.

$1.8M Federal Grant Helped D.C. Make Fruits and Vegetables Available at Work.  The municipal government of Washington, D.C. received a $1.8 million federal Community Transformation Grant in 2012 to promote healthy lifestyles in the city.  Among the things the city would do with the money, as listed on its application, was increasing the "availability of fruit and vegetables to employees in their workplaces."

It Took A Judge, But NYC's Soda Nazi Is Stopped Flat.  In a ruling stunning in its strong language and moral censure, Judge Milton Tingling struck down the Big Apple's infamous ban on large sugary soft drinks on the brink of its implementation.  The judge declared Mayor Mike "Big Gulp" Bloomberg's soda diktat "unconstitutional," "arbitrary and capricious," and said it "would create an administrative Leviathan and violate the separation of powers doctrine."

Bloomberg's Soda Folly.  New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg's ban on large-size sugary drinks at certain establishments, colloquially known as the soda ban, is a lesson in how to make your cause look ridiculous.  Bloomberg hoped the ban would spark a nationwide crackdown on sugary beverages.  Instead, it became the subject of widespread mockery [...]

What if New York's Nanny Is Actually a Thug?  What if a dictator in America used the force of law to tell you what to eat?  What if the same dictator told you what to drink?  What if the dictator told you the sizes of the containers in which you could purchase a lawful beverage?  What if the dictator just made up the rules according to his own personal taste?  What if the product he regulated was lawful, sold nearly everywhere and consumed by nearly everyone?

Soda Ban and the Government Leviathan.  In recent decades, the judiciary has been at the forefront of efforts to expand the power of government and to restrict the rights of the individual citizen.  But today at least one judge has struck a blow against the nanny state and its billionaire advocate.

Fact check: Bloomberg claims more people die of obesity than hunger.  The Red Cross estimates there were 1.5 billion dangerously overweight people worldwide last year, while 925 million were underfed.  The numbers on actual deaths seem to suggest hunger is still more deadly, though.  The United Nations estimated last year 25,000 people still die of hunger daily.  That means more than 9.1 million people die of hunger every year.

The Editor says...
Whether people die of hunger, obesity, cancer, or old age, it is not the government's responsibility to dictate our diet.

Judge halts mayor's soda ban, calls it 'arbitrary and capricious'.  A state judge today [3/11/2013] put a cork in City Hall's plans to ban Big Apple restaurants and other venues from selling large sugary drinks — a bubble-bursting defeat for Mayor Bloomberg, who has made public health a cornerstone of his tenure.

Bloomberg's soda ban prohibits 2-liter bottles with your pizza and some nightclub mixers.  Say goodbye to that 2-liter bottle of Coke with your pizza delivery, pitchers of soft drinks at your kid's birthday party and some bottle-service mixers at your favorite nightclub.  They'd violate Mayor Bloomberg's new rules, which prohibit eateries from serving or selling sugary drinks in containers larger than 16 ounces.

All is forbidden.  Meat's bad.  Fish, mercury.  Coffee, unhealthy.  Cheese, fattening.  Spinach, unclean.  Tuna needs p.r.  Canned soup, too much sodium.  Pastrami, too many calories.  Chicken, too little regulation.  Eggs, eat only the white part.  Salad, wash thoroughly.  Rice should be brown.  Pasta should be wheat.

New York City's Imperial Mayor Bloomberg Bans Again.  Still pulsing with the power from outlawing big servings of sweet drinks, Michael Bloomberg now wants to run Styrofoam out of his city.  Clearly, he believes that everyone has to live exactly as he wants them to live.  During Thursday's State of the City address, New York Mayor Bloomberg called for a ban on Styrofoam food packaging.  It's all a part of his crusade to eliminate smoking, sugary drinks, salt and other items he doesn't like — and, hence, thinks no one else should have.

Bloomberg Cajoles 21 Companies to Remove Salt from Products.  On Monday, February 11, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced that he had succeeded in cajoling 21 companies to remove more salt from some food products.  Companies such as Butterball, Heinz, Starbucks, Oscar Mayer, and Kraft Foods have committed to taking more sodium out of products ranging from popcorn, to cold cuts, to breakfast sandwiches.  Bloomberg announced that 21 companies out of 24 agreed to the changes.

Food control: New regulations target meals sold in schools.  Most candy, high-calorie drinks and greasy meals could soon be on a food blacklist in the nation's schools.

Soda, candy out under USDA's proposed school snack rules.  The Obama administration proposed regulations Friday that would prohibit U.S. schools from selling unhealthy snacks.  The 160-page regulation from the Department of Agriculture (USDA) would enact nutrition standards for "competitive" foods not included in the official school meal.  In practice, the proposed rules would replace traditional potato chips with baked versions and candy with granola.  Regular soda is out, though high-schoolers may have access to diet versions.

Michelle Obama Drops "Let's Move" Campaign.  First Lady Michelle Obama has quietly dropped her "Let's Move" campaign, the healthy eating push she took on for schools all over the country during her husband's first term.

Let's Stop! Michelle Abandons "Let's Move" Campaign.  First Lady Michelle Obama appears to have abandoned, at least for now, her oft-criticized "Let's Move" initiative to promote exercise and healthy eating among the nation's youth, halting public appearances and statements related to the program.

Michelle Obama tweets pictures of freshly picked cabbage.  Michelle Obama promptly tweeted pictures of freshly picked vegetables today [1/29/2013], after it was suggested that she had dropped her anti-obesity campaign Let's Move.  The White House Dossier — an unauthorized blog about the U.S. President and his family — posted an article this morning which highlighted that the First Lady had done little to personally publicize the initiative since last September.

No Pork at TX College? The Nanny State Continues.  Are you sending your son or daughter off to college?  If you are, have you given your adult (or close to adult) child instructions on eating a healthy diet?  Or, are you anticipating that the school will make these choices for your young adult?  At Paul Quinn College in Dallas (a small private college) the president of the school is making these decisions for you.  President Michael Sorrell came to the conclusion that pork is not a nutritious food and therefore banned it from the school cafeterias.  All pork.  Not just bacon, not just pork rinds.

47 million Americans on food stamps, Obamas pig out on a 3,000 calorie inaugural luncheon.  Although Obamacare requires restaurants to post calorie counts for all their menu items, Dear Leader's inaugural luncheon got a pass.  It's good to be king!  Of course, if you tried to serve this lunch in your local high school cafeteria, Moochelle would have you arrested.

Obama gut-busting lunch menu tops 3,000 calories.  The ceremonial lunch President Obama and his former congressional colleagues are eating Monday [1/21/2013] tops out at 3,000 calories, according to a website that has tallied up the luxurious menu of lobster, bison and apple pie.

Inaugural lunch: glaring nutritional hypocrisy.  For all their criticism of fatty foods and the mindless rubes who consume them, Barack Obama's second inaugural luncheon was a display of dietary excess.  The surf and turf meal began with lobster and creamy chowder sauce, included grilled bison with plenty of gut-busting sides, and ended with apple pie a la mode.  Not including alcoholic beverages, the meal tips the scale at more than 3,000 calories — more than the average individual should eat in a day and a half!

Gov't: Food allergies may be disability under law.  The Justice Department said in a recent settlement with a Massachusetts college that severe food allergies can be considered a disability under the law.

Now Is the Time to Ban...  Hot dogs.  Every year, between 66 and 77 children choke to death on food.  The biggest culprit?  The hot dog.  My son almost choked to death on a hot dog at a little league baseball game a few years ago.  That day still sends shivers up my spine.  No child should be allowed near any such food, and frankly, neither should adults.  These are dangerous food items that can kill if not eaten responsibly.  The fact is:  hot dogs kill.

FDA proposes sweeping new food safety rules.  The rules, the most sweeping food safety guidelines in decades, would require farmers to take new precautions against contamination, to include making sure workers' hands are washed, irrigation water is clean, and that animals stay out of fields.

The Editor says...
How did any of us survive up to this point?  Farming is a dirty business, since food is grown in dirt, and even if all food is contaminated to some degree, that's what cooking is for.  It is my opinion that the country would be better off without the FDA and without the Agriculture Department micro-managing everybody's business.  (The same goes for the EPA, the Departments of Labor, Energy, HHS, and a few others.)

Food allergy discrimination fight.  Back in the 1960s, there was real discrimination in American colleges.  At places like the University of Mississippi, students were threatened, assaulted, and arrested for demanding equal rights.  The U.S. Justice Department (with just a handful of lawyers) fought hard, serious battles to stop these civil rights abuses.  Today, with a staff of 800 and a 2012 appropriation of $145 million, the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division is suing universities over the food they do, and do not, serve in student cafeterias.

Top health-policy doc says city's war on salt is misguided.  City health czar Dr. Thomas Farley is warring with a noted scientist over sodium in the same medical journal where Farley trumpeted the city's war on salt.  "We cannot extrapolate that lowering sodium consumption would reduce cardiovascular risk or premature death," declared Dr. Sean C. Lucan of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in this month's American Journal of Public Health.

Committee Approves Rahm's Healthier Vending Machines.  Mayor Rahm Emanuel's plan to crack down on the caloric content of city vending machines popped up in Wednesday's City Council meeting, and aldermen had some heavy concerns.  After committee members OK'd the proposed ordinance this week, council members wondered everything from whether the sodium level of drinks would be considered in the plan to if Chicago actually has enough healthy foods to fill the machines according to the mayor's criteria.

What about bubble-gum cigars?
Old fashioned candy store threatened with fine for selling sugar cigarettes.  Owners of an old-school soda shop in St. Paul, Minnesota, have been warned to kick the habit and stop stocking novelty candy cigarettes.  City inspectors threatened a misdemeanor citation and $500 fine if Lynden's soda fountain is caught selling the fake smokes again.

Obama's 2009 stimulus chief says taxes and rules on junk food are coming.  Larry Summers, chair of the White House National Economic Council when the 2009 stimulus was developed, suggested that President Obama will eventually tax and regulate junk food to drive people to eat more healthily — although he dinged First Lady Michelle Obama's healthy foods initiative.

Let's rein in 'food police' bureaucrats and get real about nutrition information.  Here's food for thought!  Despite the looming "fiscal cliff," a national debt standing at $16 trillion and counting, and high unemployment rates, our federal government continues to create heavy-handed, and often times unnecessary, regulations for our small businesses — the true engines of the nation's economic growth.  A case in point is a pending federal regulation dealing not with America's many pressing financial needs, but the calorie count of food at your local restaurant.

Nanny State: Obamacare Now Regulating Pizza.  Section 4205 of PPACA (ObamaCare) requires any pizzeria, grocery, or convenience store with more than 20 locations to post calorie information in their store on menu boards.  The way the bill is written, Dominos, for example, will have to write out the caloric information for 34 million different pizza combinations (yes, they've done the math on that).

The captain of the Food Police has a 300-pound gingerbread house in her home.
54 Christmas trees a part of the White House's "Joy to All" holiday theme.  First lady Michelle Obama debuted the White House Christmas decorations, which this year honor members of the military.  The "Joy to All" holiday theme also includes 54 Christmas trees and an elaborate, 300-pound gingerbread house resembling the White House.

Menu Labeling: Another Job-Killing Regulation in ObamaCare.  The government is addressing the nation's growing obesity epidemic with a regulation:  Section 4205, the menu labeling provision attached to ObamaCare meant to "aid consumers in selecting more healthful diets."  As currently written, however, the regulation will likely have job-killing effects and result in little, if any, significant reductions in obesity rates and/or improved health.

That's right — Obamacare kills jobs.

Obamacare's pizza price.  A provision requiring restaurant menus to display calorie counts might seem like a minor addition to legislation representing the takeover of one-sixth of the economy, but the seemingly simple addition will cost billions.  President Obama's own Office of Management and Budget listed the menu display imposition as the third most burdensome statutory requirement enacted that year, forcing retail outlets to expend 14,536,183 work hours every year just to keep Uncle Sam happy.

White House Thanksgiving: Six Types of Pie.  As food pantries across the United States are overwhelmed by the newly poor and food stamp use is the highest it's ever been, the Obama first family is enjoying a Thanksgiving meal with six different types of pie.

Rahm Cracks Down on Chicago Vending Machines.  Mayor Rahm Emanuel said Wednesday [11/14/2012] he's cracking down on the caloric content of vending machines in city buildings and plans to replace them all with healthy vending by next year.  A proposed ordinance, to be introduced this week, will lay out plans for the new machines and detail guidelines on fat, sugar and calorie content starting in January 2013.

No Meat on Mondays in Los Angeles.  The Los Angeles City Council is urging all residents to observe "meatless Mondays" from now on.  A resolution adopted on Oct. 24 reads:  "Be it resolved, that the Council of the City of Los Angeles hereby declares all Mondays as 'Meatless Mondays' in support of comprehensive sustainability efforts as well as to further encourage residents to eat a more varied plant-based diet to protect their health and protect animals."

"If people let government decide what foods they eat and what medicines they take, their bodies will soon be in as sorry a state as are the souls of those who live under tyranny."

— Thomas Jefferson