Regulating Food
I don’t like the idea of government regulating my food. My guess is that most Americans feel the same way. I also don’t like the idea of levying special taxes on foods that today might be considered “bad”.
Eating is fundamentally a very personal experience, and we should be able to decide what and how we want to eat. That said, we should also be able to make that choice based on clear, and understandable information and do our best as an industry and a nation to educate consumers about how nutrition impacts health.
The food industry, in its drive for profits, has done almost everything possible to cloud consumer information and in many cases has fought against the most basic consumer rights to information. The industry has fought against country of origin labeling. They have fought against GMO labeling. They have fought against labeling improvements proposed by many consumer organizations. The solutions proffered today tweak the status quo and preserve a shield of mystery.
Last week the head of marketing of one of the largest food companies in the world (Pepsico) said in an interview (as it relates to their decision to add water to orange juice) “we have lost perspective here on the primary reason we are in business, which is to make money”.
If this is the primary reason they are in business then at the very least there must be more transparency in labeling so that consumers have the chance to make well informed decisions. What really is in my orange juice?
Mortgage regulations in the wake of the housing bubble have become more transparent to prevent the kind of abuses that almost cratered our country. I think it is time for the food labels to become transparent as well. Standardized serving sizes would be a good place to start. And maybe including ALL the ingredients would be a good idea.
Food companies’ first responsibility is to their consumers, then the environment and finally to the bottom line. If companies abide by this idea, then their customers will live happy and healthy lives.
Be well!
Rob
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Mar 19, 2012 @ 09:12:00
This is the crux of the issue – Eating is and should be a personal choice, but making the right decision is extremely difficult when we aren’t told the whole truth. I learned about those OJ flavor packs just recently myself (wow, 2/3 of Americans have OJ for breakfast – that’s huge!), but am happy to hear that Whole Foods is at least avoiding that trend. Hopefully more follow suit. I love some companies, like this one, only use whole food ingredients and no hidden ones!
Mar 21, 2012 @ 20:12:00
Great post, Rob! I’d also point out that government subsidies of crops like corn and soybeans are an important factor in all of this. Although they’re not direct “regulation,” they’re certainly a huge government influence.
Apr 03, 2012 @ 04:43:00
Please let’s have labels that use the same unit of measure! In other countries the nutritional information is based of 100gr of product. That way you know if a product has 20gr (same as saying 20%)of fat it’s high in fat. Plus it’s a breeze to cross check different products!
Apr 03, 2012 @ 13:32:00
Thank you Rob, I don’t like the overriding controls we are being subjected to by The Sutherland sociological model government. Especially the Pick And Choose whom they control. Additives appear to be o.k., However, the natural, heart of the earth giving products that our forebearers cultivated and passed on culturally from parent to child and generationaly, seem to be something that needs to be controlled. This is perhaps the most uncontrollable and thus needs to be done through the betterment of humanity.
Kudos,
Linda Rossmaier
Apr 03, 2012 @ 16:51:00
Well, somebody needs to tell the American public how to eat! If one considers the obesity and diabetes epidemic, then one might conclude that the public is making a total muck of it’s health in a nutrition sense.
Clearly the public doesn’t know how to eat.
If one wants to make poor choices, fine. Just don’t ask ME to pay for it. As a tax payer and an insurance premium payer, I am forced to foot the bill for the health consequences of the public’s “free choice” to poison itself in gluttony.
I say higher tax and higher premiums for those >10% over ideal body weight.
Apr 04, 2012 @ 05:15:00
Actually, Americans were not obese until the US gov’t started advising them how to eat, based on whatever food group was lobbying them at the time. Following the gov’ts food recommendations is what is making us fat! Read Michael Pollan’s books, or The Good Fat Cookbook, or any of a plethora of other books, and you will see how the American obsession with low-fat diets (perpetrated on us by the government) has gotten us into this mess. Before the government started telling us what to eat, we were significantly healthier (and thinner!) than we are now! More government intervention will only make the problem worse, not better.
Apr 05, 2012 @ 16:43:00
Horse puckey! You must have something to sell in the guise of conspiracy theory. The government has never told me or my family how to eat.
Look around the planet and you see that obesity and Type 2 Diabetes cluster around McDonald’s, KFC, Denny’s and other western diet eateries. These are all free market entities selling food to the uninformed public.
And it is not about the nutrient ratios. It’s about volume pure and simple; the more poundage sold, the more dollars pocketed by the purveyors.
We are fatter because of food availablity and marketing combined with more sedenatry lifestyle and an uneducated populace. Plain and simple.
Apr 04, 2012 @ 04:57:00
You’re contradicting yourself, Rob. First you say that government regulations are bad, then you point out they can be useful but you don’t admit that they are necessary in the food industry.
Food companies will never abide by voluntary labeling standards that truly help the consumer make wise decisions. As you say, government regulations were needed to make the mortgage industry more transparent. What’s wrong with the government regulating the food industry to do the same thing?