Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Abolish the FDA Part 1323: Diet Milk

Now, more than ever, the Food and Drug Administration needs to be abolished.  They are increasingly becoming the largest crony capitalist agency of the United States Federal government.  Case in point is this latest gem:

IDFA and NMPF request their proposed amendments to the milk standard of identity to allow optional characterizing flavoring ingredients used in milk (e.g., chocolate flavoring added to milk) to be sweetened with any safe and suitable sweetener—including non-nutritive sweeteners such as aspartame. IDFA and NMPF state that the proposed amendments would promote more healthful eating practices and reduce childhood obesity by providing for lower-calorie flavored milk products. They state that lower-calorie flavored milk would particularly benefit school children who, according to IDFA and NMPF, are more inclined to drink flavored milk than unflavored milk at school. As further support for the petition, IDFA and NMPF state that the proposed amendments would assist in meeting several initiatives aimed at improving the nutrition and health profile of food served in the nation's schools. Those initiatives include state-level programs designed to limit the quantity of sugar served to children during the school day. Finally, IDFA and NMPF argue that the proposed amendments to the milk standard of identity would promote honesty and fair dealing in the marketplace and are therefore appropriate under section 401 of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 341).

On top of that, the International Dairy Foods Association and the National Milk Producers Federation are pushing to keep these new additives out of the listing of ingredients in milk.  In other words, they are making Diet Milk and not telling anyone.  Central planning at its finest.

This can have far-reaching consequences.  I know that aspartame is a very controversial additive, being blamed for various things ranging from macular degeneration to cancer as well as not doing a damn thing about obesity, but I will instead focus on what I do know: my father is allergic to aspartame.  It’s like a lactic acid allergy not a peanut allergy.

Do we know how many kids out there are also allergic to the additive?  How many kids out there will start shitting themselves at school because of the FDA’s own misguided policies and short-sightedness?  Maybe the FDA should just corral all the allergic into a camp where kids can concentrate more despite shitting themselves.

And don’t you love how they are using the excuse of reducing sugar intake as their justification for making Diet Milk?  How about the school cafeteria’s stop serving garbage and the principals across America get rid of the damn vending machines?  Instead it’s to poison our children with a dubious additive that may not even accomplish the state objective in the first place.

The FDA is largely an irrelevant organization these days.  In an era where social media can spread more information much faster, do we need a government agency overseeing the safety of the food and drug supply.  If anything, they misreport what they do and instead try and allow things like Diet Milk to occur.  In a true free market system, no company would dare attempt such a thing as the backlash would be huge.  Instead we have a nanny state trying to poison children and telling us it’s for their own good.

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