- “The FDA’s Ill-Conceived Proposal to Ban Trans Fats” [Baylen Linnekin] Margarine and other butterfat substitutes help in keeping a meal kosher, but FDA appears indifferent to individual preference [Ira Stoll] Can the baker fudge the formula for Baltimore’s Berger cookies? [Baltimore Sun, WTOP/Capital] Organized grocery lobby appears to be going quietly, perhaps a misguided strategy since this sets a precedent for yanking familiar ingredients off Generally Recognized As Safe (GRAS) list, and many activists would like to move on to things like sugar next [Bloomberg Business Week, Doug Mataconis/Outside the Beltway, Michelle Minton/CEI, Bainbridge] Switch to palm oil might accelerate deforestation [Scientific American]
- FDA’s regs implementing Food Safety Modernization Act could tank small farmers and other food operations, commenters write in by thousands [Baylen Linnekin, Jim Slama, HuffPo]
- Proposed Austin curbs on fast food restaurants might ensnare its beloved food trucks [Linnekin]
- Any day now FDA could issue long-awaited, highly burdensome new menu calorie labeling regs [Hinkle] Sens. Roy Blunt (R-MO) and Angus King (Ind.-ME) introduce bill to excuse grocers and convenience stories from rules and simplify compliance for pizzerias [Andrew Ramonas/BLT]
- “Panel weighs in on soda ban at law school” [NYU News covers my recent panel discussion there with Jacob Sullum and Prof. Roderick Hills, pic courtesy @vincentchauvet]
- “Organic Farmers Bash FDA Restrictions On Manure Use” [NPR via Ira Stoll]
- Nick Farr looks at NYT retrospective on the Stella Liebeck (McDonald’s) hot coffee case [Abnormal Use]
- “Sugar is the most destructive force in the universe” according to expert witness who meets with less than favorable reception in corn syrup case [Glenn Lammi, WLF]
Filed under: FDA, FSMA, hot coffee, obesity, restaurants, soft drinks, Stella Liebeck, trans-fats
2 Comments
Seems clear to me that Congress needs to get to work on a Consumer Protection and Affordable Food Act.
The Department of Agriculture would be given power to define in voluminous, minutely-detailed regulations which foods are wholesome and which foods are not. The Secretary of Agriculture would be granted unprecedented powers (i.e., not minutely defined) to administer the law and the regs by fiat.
The purchase of foods defined as wholesome will be mandatory and partially subsidized.
Foods that are not defined as wholesome will be considered inadequate and substandard. Their purchase will incur a special tax, because they are substandard.
This legislation will not only improve nutrition, it will lower the annual cost of food by up to $2500 for the typical family.
What can Congress possibly be waiting for?
I think several SCOTUS nominees (now justices) have already pre-approved the Broccoli Law. The question remains as to whether Roberts will decide that the penalty for not-buying broccoli is a fine or a tax.