Midwood, Brooklyn,Ita Yankovich

Question: Should the government ban trans fat oils in restaurants?

No. The government should educate the public on the harm of trans fat oils, but it's not the government's place to outlaw them. Food establishments should be required to display signs informing patrons whether this type of oil is used. Then it should be the customer's choice.

- Shragi Cohn, owner, Glatt Galore

No. This is a consumer's choice. The government wants the ban because of the rise in obesity, but this oil has no connection to people getting fatter - people were obese before this oil was even used. It would be easier on everyone if the government just told storeowners to label their food. An outright ban will hurt kosher eateries, especially the smaller ones that struggle to survive.

- Simon Grubin, owner, Simon Sez

Yes. This is a good move. Trans fat oil is not healthy, period. Consumers don't care because they don't know. Restaurant owners have a responsibility to make sure their customers are eating wholesome foods. Eliminating trans fat oil should be mandatory. At Café Napoli, we haven't used it in over a year. The decision not to use it is actually more expensive for us but the food tastes better and we are helping the customers.

- Dani Ben Baruch, owner, Café Napoli

No. Government should not have the right to tell us which ingredients we can and cannot use. We don't need the government telling us about the quality of our foods - we have a mashgiach for that. We also have two hashgachot just to be extra careful about the cleanliness and quality of our food. Storeowners pay taxes, and we have health inspections every six months on top of kosher supervision - that is enough. Kosher eateries go well beyond the expected level of ensuring that customers eat healthy. We even have water filters. How many restaurants do that?

- David Oliel, manager, Jerusalem Steak House II

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