California has just approved a bill to ban restaurants from using so-called trans fats in their dishes. The scary thing is that the law makes logical sense. So can Oregon be far behind?

The bill, passed by the Assembly on Monday, has yet to be signed into law, and the San Francisco Chronicle reported Tuesday that Gov. Schwarzenegger had yet to state his position on it. But if it becomes law, California will be the first state to go that far in taking on the role of food police. (New York City is the first city government to have done so in regard to restaurants and trans fats.) The California legislation deals with artificial trans fats, which result from the addition of hydrogen to vegetable oils. This is done to make the oils more solid and longer lasting. But according to health experts, the Chronicle says, trans fats contribute to higher cholesterol, and this can lead to heart disease.

Normally you would think that the government should stay out of deciding what people can eat and drink. But we crossed that bridge long, long ago with generally good results. We rely on the government, for example, to inspect meat and other products to try to make sure they are safe to eat.

Then, we took another step when the people consented to let the government tell citizens about the risks of drinking and smoking tobacco.

From there it is no big departure for the government to go after other substances that are found to be bad for your health.

Today that is trans fats. Tomorrow maybe sugar. After that, what? (hh)