A very sad case of B12 deficiency

I read a news report this morning that struck me as being one of the most bizarre things I have ever seen.

There is a piece of legislation in New York, bill A. 10129 sponsored by Assemblyman Felix Ortiz (D-Brooklyn), which proposes to fine any restaurant and/or chef in the entire state for using salt "in any form" in the preparation of food.

The bills states in lines 3-7: "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 OF SUCH PREMISES."

First of all, allow me to heave a hugh sigh of relief that I am not a resident of a place that would do something as cruel as knowingly electing a mentally ill person to such a post. Where I live, we're nicer than that. Second of all, people of New York, you ARE going to do something about this, aren't you? Because, no salt? In any restaurant? On any food? Eeeeeyiikes..... I forgot to put the salt in a loaf of bread I made recently, and it was so flat-tasting, so utterly bland, we ended up feeding it to the ducks.

For those of you in New York who love the crispy golden french fries found beneath those golden arches, you should start being thankful that McDonald's doesn't prepare their ketchup on site, because at least you'll be able to get a little salt on those things that way. For those fond of French cuisine, it looks as if that classic dish from le Cordon Bleu, loup de mer cuit en croûte de sel (salt-crusted sea bass), is going to be permanently off the menu if Felix has his way.

But listen. Let's not be mad at Felix. Shhh, he can't help himself. He obviously doesn't eat any salt: salt supplies us with iodine, an element which is a crucial part of our diets in that it helps us absorb vitamin B12. Without sufficient quantities of B12 in our systems, we can fall prey to a host of ills, one of the most tragic of which is dementia.

I think that explains perfectly where the idea for this piece of legislation came from.