Everything not compulsory is forbidden.

[elfs]

Any food establishment to which this section applies shall not be allowed to serve food to any person who is obese, based on criteria prescribed by the State Department of Health after consultation with the Mississippi Council on Obesity Prevention and Management established under Section 41-101-1 or its successor. The State Department of Health shall prepare written materials that describe and explain the criteria for determining whether a person is obese, and shall provide those materials to all food establishments to which this section applies. A food establishment shall be entitled to rely on the criteria for obesity in those written materials when determining whether or not it is allowed to serve food to any person.

Mississipi House Bill 282. The sponsor says this isn't a joke.

[Hat tip: Radley Balko]

Comments

[sirfox.livejournal.com]

The mind just boggles. Afterwards, however, it wants to lay about with a poleaxe.

[cyber-pagan.livejournal.com]

I guess if that passes there will be no more restaurants in Mississippi :)

[antonia-tiger.livejournal.com]

Having been in a fast-food joint which does signpost the calories (in rather small print), and discovering that one burger can exceed 1000 calories, I don't have that much sympathy for the fast food business. Do they employ Dr. Strangelove as a dietary advisor?

But this idea is still pretty idiotic. And laws which say bartenders shouldn't serve people who are drunk doesn't make any difference either (it's been in British law for at least ninety years).

[woggie.livejournal.com]

It's the right direction, but the wrong conclusion, which in my opinion is pretty typical of The South. It's just one more reason I don't live anywhere near there.