The following is a statement from Southland-based MP and ACT Health spokesperson Todd Stephenson:

I love food trucks. They bring life, commerce, and tasty treats to our towns.

But in Invercargill, joyless food fascists are trying to crack down.

The city council asked for feedback from locals on food truck locations. Instead, they got a scolding from the National Public Health Service.

These taxpayer-funded busybodies complained that Invercargill’s food trucks serve meals that ‘tend to be processed, high in fat, and in some cases sugar’.

Heaven forbid someone burning calories on a worksite might want to buy a bacon buttie or a donut.

The bureaucrats told the council it should use licencing fees to push food trucks into offering healthy food options. That’s just ridiculous. The council needs to maintain pipes and roads, not hire compliance officers sticking their beaks into food truck menus.

The health service goes on to whinge that food trucks ‘operate in locations where there are few or no other food options’.

In other words, if it weren’t for food trucks, some parts of town would have no food options at all. So why would we impose new rules that make it harder to open a food truck?

The NPHS needs to butt out. No-one is forced to buy nachos or a curry.

The good news is Invercargill City Council told the NPHS where to stick it, saying that so long as the food is safe, health concerns won’t be considered.

Meanwhile, with the Government looking to find savings, a new target may have presented itself.

© Scoop Media