The grand-Nanny of them all was edged out by Brownell, despite leading the charge against soda, coffee, alcohol, the Thanksgiving turkey, Olestra and the entire U.S. restaurant industry. For refusing to consider a bill which would have lifted the state s ban on smoking in bars and taverns. For considering a bill which would have made it felony child abuse for a pregnant woman to order a glass of wine in a restaurant without a doctor s prescription. The National Institute of Health For redefining the Body Mass Index, effectively making 33 million Americans overweight overnight. For their expos on soda barons trying to hook young kids on the new drug of choice caffeine.
Restaurants are notorious for serving too much food.
For calling Kelly Brownell s fat tax one of the smart ideas to save the world. The magazine hailed the tax as less bureaucratic and intrusive than other unabashed social engineering efforts. For reporting that perfumes can be toxic to the liver and kidneys and that they may trigger migraines and asthma in some people, without offering a shred of evidence. In fact, they write, there s so little science that your guess is as good as mine how widespread the health damage might be. Well, we guess there s no problem.