[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="160" caption="Junk food is getting banned, now, in Massachusetts... from vending machines and elsewhere. Could the movement be now shifting eastwards, at last? Image from freshhealthyvending.com"][/caption]Massachusetts public health regulators approved regulations to limit the sale of sugary soft drinks, salty and calorie-packed snacks, and even white bread sandwiches from public schools. The rules approved February 9 will apply to a la carte lines, snack shops, and vending machines, but not to the main cafeteria line. They would apply during the school day and a half-hour before and after classes, and now need the approval of the state Public Health Council, an appointed panel of doctors and experts, which is expected to consider them at a spring meeting. They would take effect in 2012. New York State has considered similar laws in recent years but gotten no where with them. In New York City, laws were passed banning Trans Fats five years ago, and schools have worked sugar and fattening products out of their offerings. National discussion on such matters is currently stalled because of home-rule and convoluted privacy/first amendment issues.