Since advertising is the # 1 cause of childhood obesity, the federal government is going to do something about it.
Led by former Sen. Sam Brownback and Sen. Tom Harkin, Congress directed the Federal Trade Commission, together with the Food and Drug Administration, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, to establish an Interagency Working Group of federal nutrition, health, and marketing experts to develop recommendations for the nutritional quality of food marketed to children and adolescents, ages 2 to 17. The working group seeks public comment on the proposed voluntary nutrition and marketing principles it has developed. After public comment, the working group will make final recommendations in a report to Congress. This is not a proposed government regulation.
The working group is comprised of four government agencies, and led by two US Senators, and they are developing a framework for the “proper” marketing of food, but, in the usual GovernmentSpeak, this is called “voluntary” because it is not yet a comprehensive law of force. Is that as voluntary as the US Dietary Guidelines? This “voluntary” propaganda is designed to change the face of food marketing to “encourage stronger and more meaningful self-regulation by the food industry and to support parents’ efforts to get their kids to eat healthier foods.”
Meanwhile, the FDA’s long-time war on salt — that did not initially propose government regulations—- eventually became a “legal limit” on salt in foods as the FDA “works with food manufacturers” (voluntarily?) to set limits on the allowable amount of salt in foods. Here is a snippet from a 2010 article in the Washington Post about the voluntary efforts to keep people from eating salt:
Until now, the government has pushed the food industry to voluntarily reduce salt and tried to educate consumers about the dangers of excessive sodium. But in a study to be released Wednesday, an expert panel convened by the Institute of Medicine concludes that those measures have failed. The panel will recommend that the government take action, according to sources familiar with the findings.
And of course, the food marketing recommendations that will be “voluntary” will encourage a mostly vegetarian diet, just like the dietary guidelines (vegetables, fruit, whole grains, fat-free or low-fat milk products, fish, extra lean meat and poultry, eggs, nuts or seeds, and beans). “Extra-lean meat” and gets an itty-bitty role in the governmentarian diet. Thanks to Skip Oliva for the link.
