The nanny state has come to this (http://www.myfoxny.com/dpp/news/local_news/new_york_state/chefs-call-proposed-new-york-salt-ban-absurd-20100310-akd)...


Some New York City chefs and restaurant owners are taking aim at a bill introduced in the New York Legislature that, if passed, would ban the use of salt in restaurant cooking.

"No owner or operator of a restaurant in this state shall use salt in any form in the preparation of any food for consumption by customers of such restaurant, including food prepared to be consumed on the premises of such restaurant or off such premises," the bill, A. 10129 , states in part.

The legislation, which Assemblyman Felix Ortiz , D-Brooklyn, introduced on March 5, would fine restaurants $1,000 for each violation.

I'm literally speechless.

Looks like I can stop growing pot, and deal in the black market for salt.

Pisst, hey buddy, want a shake or two for those fries?

5 bucks a shake.

Stupid liberal politicians, think they can make our lives better with their ridiculous laws.

Remember, for every law there is a way around it.

They seem to forget that salt is essential for humans.

Will they have full body scanners at each restaurant looking for customers smuggling in their own condiments?

Felix Ortiz likes the soap box. He tried a stunt similar to this proposing a reduction in the drinking age to 18. Now there is no state in the union that will do that because of the loss of the Federal Highway funds if they pass it . But, it gave him an opportunity to pontificate about over enforcement of the law against the 18-21 year olds. He got his mug on the cover of some papers here and his proposal withered on the vine.

That is what I think he is doing again. He knows this will never pass in the legislature. But now he gets some national exposure and he can speak of the danger of consuming too much salt. No doubt he's already booked on Larry King and Oprah .

Update... Ortiz admits he knows squat about the issue.


Ortiz admits that prior to introducing the bill he did not research salt's role in food chemistry, its effect on flavor or his bill's ramifications for the restaurant industry. He tells me he was prompted to introduce the bill because his father used salt excessively for many years, developed high blood pressure and had a heart attack.
http://blog.timesunion.com/tablehopping/13889/assemblyman-seeking-to-ban-all-salt-in-restaurant-cooking/

I knew he had to be an idiot, but that's never stopped people before. I propose that any politician that submits any "Americans are too stupid for their own good" bill be drawn and quartered.

I am glad you put that quote up Tom. Cause I was about to rip this idiot to shreds. Tom was this the guy who switched from D to R last year and by doing that made the Republicans have Majority in NY then for some reason he switched back to D?

I am glad Ortiz wasn't in my kitchen this weekend he would have freaked out worse then my Veggie head wife did when I made Dark Chocolate BACON cupcakes (yeah you read it right I put cooked bacon in cupcakes). I really don't eat all that much meat because of my wife not eating meat but it was my birthday and I found a recipe online and made it. They were so good. It took 3 days for my wife to start talking to me again.

You go, Spit. Dark Chocolate BACON cupcakes sound yummy. Shoot me over the recipe.

You go, Spit. Dark Chocolate BACON cupcakes sound yummy. Shoot me over the recipe.

Here you go my good man!

Dark Chocolate Bacon Cupcakes - All Recipes (http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Dark-Chocolate-Bacon-Cupcakes/Detail.aspx)

Awesome, I'll add it to my All Recipes box

Stupid liberal politicians, think they can make our lives better with their ridiculous laws.Hello tk:

You're not saying, are you, that it's the LIBERAL politicians who keep pot illegal? Nahhh, you wouldn't be saying that. I do agree with you, though, in that these conservative politicians are using very liberal measures to achieve their goal.

excon

Hey, is it fruitcake week over there? It seems your politicians have nothing better to do, perhaps you need less of them

I saw this and couldn't believe it. As a chef, and salt addict, I object.

This is just crazy. If you don't want sodium in your food, prepare it yourself. And good luck trying !

The poor , poor masses, they just don't realise how lost and helpless they are. They are victims of their own self and need to be "taken" care of.

Of course with tight laws on business, higher taxes on business, and a worst ecomony, there will not be enough places to eat open anyway to have to watch.

But I am sure the government will do what is best for us and watch over us and protect us even from ourself.

They take away someone's rights, we turn out head, they take away our neighbors rights, we ingore. They come for our rights and we wonder why no one does anything.

There is only one problem with this scenerio of restaurants not adding salt in the preparation of the food. If they don't post HUGE signs saying that no salt was added to their food, those hapless idiots consuming the saltless food will spit it out as it tastes nasty without the salt or worse yet, tastless period.

Are those restaurants going to place salt shakers on each table so the patron can add their own "naughty" salt to their now tastless food?

Or does the dining patron have to "smuggle" their own salt shaker into the establishment??

I cook a wide variety of foods.I never use salt in the preparations. I learned this early because my sister was a kidney patient. There are plenty of alternatives to using salt in the menu and there is sufficient sodium in regular foods to satisfy the bodies sodium intake needs.

However ,this bill will go nowhere. This is just a 16year veteran Democrat assemblyman from Brooklyn looking for some media time ;although I take him at his words that his motivations are from seeing his father's health issues. As stated above;I altered my habits because of similar circumstances.

I cook a wide variety of foods.I never use salt in the preparations. I learned this early because my sister was a kidney patient. There are plenty of alternatives to using salt in the menu and there is sufficient sodium in regular foods to satisfy the bodies sodium intake needs.

However ,this bill will go nowhere. This is just a 16year veteran Democrat assemblyman from Brooklyn looking for some media time ;although I take him at his words that his motivations are from seeing his father's health issues. As stated above;I altered my habits because of simular circumstances.

Hi Tom I agree with you, I don't need salt in my cooking either, I have not suffered any ill effects from a lower salt diet and I get to enjoy the real taste of food

Hi Tom I agree with you, I don't need salt in my cooking either, I have not suffered any ill effects from a lower salt diet and I get to enjoy the real taste of food

Other than baking, salt really should be a condiment and a preservative. I will lead an armed revolt for the sake of country ham. Bacon, too.

Potatoes and greens and tomatoes don't need it until they're on the plate. Some folks don't use it then, some do.

And I'll conceed that there is probably some salt in the barbecue sauce I use. But they'll pry my Jack Daniels sauce from my cold dead fingers!!

and I'll conceed that there is probably some salt in the barbeque sauce I use. But they'll pry my Jack Daniels sauce from my cold dead fingers !!!

They would never try it here, too many heavily armed Texans for that.