Here’s the US Department of Agriculture’s brochure on new rules requiring labeling of the country of orgiin of meats, fish and produce.  At the same time, the State of California is requiring larger restaurant chains to provide calorie and nutrition information to consumers. Both sets of rules provide important information to consumers, though each works on different parts of food issues.

I’m a fan of both, even if they will no doubt draw the ire of those who say that there are too many regulations.

As to country of origin rules, until China puts systems in place to provide safe products, I’m not feeding my kids food from there. Apart from that, country of origin labeling helps with a separate problem. It takes an awful lot of oil to grow and ship kiwis from New Zealand and grapes from Chile to North America. My preference is to buy food that doesn’t consume Middle Eastern oil or add more greenhouse gas to the atmosphere.  So country of origin labeling helps a little on that front.

And as for the food menu calorie rules, we’ve got the whole obesity problem. The theory is that calorie count information will help consumers make wise choices. I’m not sure whether it will work, as I can imagine that more information won’t lead  people to make better food choices at the food court. But even if the new rules don’t lead all consumers to think before they order, providing information gives motivated consumers the ability to make choices.  Put another way, once you know that the Outback’s Bloomin’ Onion appetizer has 2300 calories, you can make informed choices if you’re concerned about weight.

Both sets of rules seem like wise policy to me.

David Sugerman

The recent FDA announcement of the tomato salmonella outbreak leads me to wonder about how we got here. Announcements like this give the media great material to play with the fear process. I call it the “don’t eat that,” or scare-of-the-moment journalism. The danger is real, of course, as salmonella can pose a serious health hazard for children, elderly, and people with compromised immune systems.

The real problem is a lax food safety system. This is not something that’s simply limited to tomatoes.  The reality is that deregulation–the heralded salvation and light of the American economy–has a very nasty underside.

Food safety is one of those classic government functions. If we want a safe food system, we have to pay for it and know that sometimes regulations are a pain in the neck. Oh, and it costs money, as in higher taxes.  Of course, that pain in the neck is part of how we protect our toddlers and aging parents who can be felled by a manufacturer’s failure to maintain food safety standards.

The alternatives give us two things. One is this scare-of-the-moment journalism. Annoying. But here’s the bigger one. The other consequence of deregulation is that people like me–trial lawyers–have more and more work.  My job starts when injured people call about calamities that have befallen them.  I am like “All the Kings’ horses and all the Kings men” as I go about trying to re-assemble lives and families broken by unsafe practices.

Our food supply system needs to be regulated properly, and we need to dedicate the resources to it so that regular inspections and enforcement processes prevent these outbreaks.

David Sugerman