I would not think that Italy, where the diet is heavily grounded on carbs (with pasta & bread being at the base of the food pyramid), has an obesity problem even vaguely comparable with that of the US. What I noticed ever since I moved here is that you guys have a sweet tooth! There is hardly ANYthing, sweet or otherwise, that hasn't added sugar.

Also, you over-process stuff, making it harder to elaborate, and possibly yelding more redundant nutrients. Take Pizza: in Naples, sauce is just some good-quality peeled tomatoes right out of a can, crushed and spread on the dough; a dash of oil, basil leaves and a sprinkle of salt are added on top, and everything is slammed in the oven, where it just gets a brief flash of high heat. Here, the sauce is a big deal involving at least tomatoes, garlic, oil, oregano, sugar, salt, and slow cooking. No wonder that one gets heartburn out of that...

I am Italian too, and more than a little interested in this story.

For now, I can report that this proposal is apparently not going anywhere: Paolo Gentiloni, one of the ministers involved in drafting the law, admitted of "not having thoroughly read the proposal" because he thought that "it was not going to alter the status quo". He is now declaring that this law will certainly be changed in order to keep blogs out of the picture, and
that he's sure that Mr. Ricardo Franco Levi is the first who will be willing to take action to change it.

Well, it took some national and international pressure, plus remembering that the law was at a clash with our existing Constitution, but it seems that things will be back to normal

Mr. Gentiloni's statement can be read (in Italian) on his personal blog. Look who else has one, BTW...