Latest Massachusetts 'As-salt' Crosses State Lines

How bad is the nanny-state fever in Massachusetts? So bad that it even affects a national restaurant chain with a Massachusetts city in its name.

Last week, Boston Market announced that it would take salt shakers off its dining tables. Their customers and employees alike are sure to appreciate that added inconvenience.

But that's not all: they're also dropping the salt content in some of their signature dishes.

Obviously anyone seriously concerned about their saline intake is not hitting up Boston Market on a regular basis. Will the pepper shakers also go missing when some group comes out with a report claiming that black pepper's bad for you?

Dennis Miller had a great response: "Boston Market gets rid of salt? Didn't I impulse buy a Tollhouse cookie the size of a discus at their cash register once?"

Restaurants should be able to worry less about bowing to government pressure and worry more about pressure from the most important group: their paying customers.

If you can say anything for this top-down salt mandate, it's that it's consistent with the legislative direction of Boston Market's geographic namesake. The spirit of Boston has certainly changed since the days of the original Tea Party.

P.S. I will continue to visit my local BM on occasion for as long as they are one of the few restaurants in my area with a magical Coke Freestyle machine. It's hard to be totally uncompromising in the face of Orange Diet Coke and Raspberry Coke Zero.