Mandatory Food Labeling

Paper Summary:

The paper looks at the history of food and drug regulation in America. The paper discusses how nutritionists and consumer advocates who support such legislation have their personal agendas involved. The paper examines the struggle over food labeling and shows how even something seemingly objective, like caloric content or freedom from artificial pesticides, can be subject to political influences.

From the Paper:

"Concerns about food content and purity have a long history, not simply in America, but in the history of the world. To protect the health of the consumer, governments have long attempted to regulate what can or can not be added to food products. Food producers have often attempted to alter foods in an effort to obtain the same price for diluted and even dangerous goods. "For instance, water has often been added to wine, the cream skimmed from milk, and chalk added to bread" (Law, 2004). Mandatory, accurate food labeling attempts to solve the problem of asymmetric information, as producers often know more about product quality than consumers."

Sample of Sources Used:

• "Guide to Nutrition Labeling and Education Act (NLEA) Requirements." (Aug 1994).FDA. Editorial Changes Feb 1995. Retrieved 18 Mar 2007 athttp://www.fda.gov/ora/inspect_ref/igs/nleatxt.htm
• "How to Read USDA Organic Labels." (2007) Organic Trade Association. http://www.theorganicreport.com/pages/12_how_to_read_the_usda_organic_labels.cfm
• Law, Marc. (12 Oct 2004) "History of Food and Drug Regulation in the United States." EH.Net Encyclopedia. Edited by Robert Whaples. Retrieved 18 Mar 2007 athttp://eh.net/encyclopedia/article/Law.Food.and.Drug.Regulation
• Wilkening, Virginian L. (1993) "FDA's regulations to implement the NLEA - NutritionLabeling and Education Act." Nutrition Today. Retrieved 18 Mar 2007 at http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0841/is_n5_v28/ai_14676247

More papers on Mandatory Food Labeling:

• Essay # 13207 : "Food Labeling"
• Analytical Essay # 2801 : "Engineering Disaster"
• Persuasive Essay # 107578 : "New School Food Policies"

APA Citation:

MLA Citation: