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Thursday, July 19, 2007
Diane Glass, a left-leaning columnist, writes the commentary this week and Shaunti Feldhahn, a right-leaning columnist, responds.
Commentary
By Diane Glass
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) exists to protect the American public from harm. This function serves the American public and it isn’t a violation of individual rights.
Just recently the FDA banned the import of some types of farm-raised fish and shrimp from China, because they found a link to cancer-causing drugs. In the past, the FDA has banned the non-water-soluble form of a red food dye because it produced tumors in male rats.
Last year, the FDA began mandating that food labeling in this country include information about the amount of trans fats in processed food. That began a chain of events in which several cities, led by New York, have either banned the use of trans fats in restaurants, or they are talking about it.
The backlash has a lot of folks suddenly anxious about their Happy Meals.
Trans fat is made when hydrogen is added to vegetable oil. It contributes to increasing the production of “Frankenfat” or LDL, the bad kind of cholesterol.
The Harvard Law and Policy Review says the “oils (are) attractive to food manufacturers because they have a longer shelf life and longer fry life than other oils. That makes them useful for fried foods like French fries, donuts, and taco shells. And they give baked goods like cookies, crackers, and pies the texture that previously came from lard.”
Now, food distributors are basically more concerned with profits than public health. They are in business to make money, not play fitness coach.
Chefs resent the FDA tinkering with their recipes and affecting the unique taste that attracts customers. And customers resent the idea of government food police. I mean, it isn’t like anyone thinks that french fries are really good for them. They just taste good.
But to state the obvious, the public doesn’t know what it doesn’t know. The FDA’s objective is not out to make meals taste like hospital food, but to research and make sure what we consume every day is healthy.
Clinical Dietitian Erin C. McAllister of Atlanta’s Emory University Hospital offers this bit of trans fat-free wisdom:
“When people start claiming it is a violation of their rights to ban trans fats, says Clinical Dietician Erin C. McAllister, “the key to remember is it is a man-made fat that we have added to the food supply and then discovered is harmful and contributes to the development of heart disease.
“To me, it is like recalling a harmful food product off the market. Why would we want to contribute to all the diseases we already have with trans fats when they can be removed and replaced with something ‘natural?’”
Rebuttal
By Shaunti Feldhahn
When a lawyer files a lawsuit to ban Nabisco Oreo cookies, we’ve gone off the deep end. Stephen Joseph wants the removal of Oreos from shelves across California because they contain trans fats. The California legislature is actually considering a state-wide ban on all trans-fats cooking in restaurants — and a similar ban went into effect against New York City eateries a few weeks ago.
I’m not arguing that trans fats are a beneficial part of the American diet, but there’s a reason the FDA hasn’t banned them thus far: they’re merely…unhealthy. Not unsafe. And the problem is, there simply isn’t a trans-fat alternative out there that tastes the same. At least not yet.
A whole lot of foodstuffs aren’t good for you. But should the government ban them for everyone just because a sizeable chunk of the population (pun intended) refuses to consume them in moderation? After all, a few Oreos won’t make kids fat. But lots of junk food, sedentary lifestyles, sugary drinks, and lack of parental oversight might. A 2004 Gallup poll included two separate studies isolating sugary sodas as a huge contributor to teen obesity problems.
A ban on trans fats sounds great on paper, but so did Prohibition a century ago — and look how that turned out. Unlike with tobacco, which appears unsafe even in small amounts, people rebel against someone controlling their guilty pleasures when they are just fine in moderation. Someone can drink a glass of wine with dinner a few times a week — or indulge in a luscious desert at a restaurant — and still stay healthy. It’s got to be up to the individual to have enough sense not to inhale a package of cookies at one sitting.
The real break-through on trans-fats actually came a few years ago, when the FDA began requiring trans fat amounts to be disclosed on food labels. And almost instantly, customers began pressuring restaurant chains and food manufacturers to find a healthier alternative. As long as consumers are being given the real information, the market will generate a solution to this that is less nannying, less burdensome, and still allows us to enjoy — from time to time — an Oreo dunked in a glass of milk.
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Commentary
By Diane Glass
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) exists to protect the American public from harm. This function serves the American public and it isn’t a violation of individual rights.
Just recently the FDA banned the import of some types of farm-raised fish and shrimp from China, because they found a link to cancer-causing drugs. In the past, the FDA has banned the non-water-soluble form of a red food dye because it produced tumors in male rats.
Last year, the FDA began mandating that food labeling in this country include information about the amount of trans fats in processed food. That began a chain of events in which several cities, led by New York, have either banned the use of trans fats in restaurants, or they are talking about it.
The backlash has a lot of folks suddenly anxious about their Happy Meals.
Trans fat is made when hydrogen is added to vegetable oil. It contributes to increasing the production of “Frankenfat” or LDL, the bad kind of cholesterol.
The Harvard Law and Policy Review says the “oils (are) attractive to food manufacturers because they have a longer shelf life and longer fry life than other oils. That makes them useful for fried foods like French fries, donuts, and taco shells. And they give baked goods like cookies, crackers, and pies the texture that previously came from lard.”
Now, food distributors are basically more concerned with profits than public health. They are in business to make money, not play fitness coach.
Chefs resent the FDA tinkering with their recipes and affecting the unique taste that attracts customers. And customers resent the idea of government food police. I mean, it isn’t like anyone thinks that french fries are really good for them. They just taste good.
But to state the obvious, the public doesn’t know what it doesn’t know. The FDA’s objective is not out to make meals taste like hospital food, but to research and make sure what we consume every day is healthy.
Clinical Dietitian Erin C. McAllister of Atlanta’s Emory University Hospital offers this bit of trans fat-free wisdom:
“When people start claiming it is a violation of their rights to ban trans fats, says Clinical Dietician Erin C. McAllister, “the key to remember is it is a man-made fat that we have added to the food supply and then discovered is harmful and contributes to the development of heart disease.
“To me, it is like recalling a harmful food product off the market. Why would we want to contribute to all the diseases we already have with trans fats when they can be removed and replaced with something ‘natural?’”