Showing posts with label FDA. Show all posts
Showing posts with label FDA. Show all posts

The FDA's Ill-Conceived Proposal To Ban Trans Fats

by Baylen Linnekin.         On Thursday the FDA made the surprise announcement that it would move to ban artificial trans fats, which are found in foods containing partially hydrogenated vegetable oils. The ban would not apply to naturally occurring trans fats, such as those found in meat and dairy products. Adoption of the proposal, which is     ... MORE

FDA Seeks To Make Prescription Painkillers Harder To Get

Government steps up war on drugs.       A big change to legal drug policy is in the works. After years of pressure from public-health and addiction advocates, as well as the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, the Food and Drug Administration has recommended that access to drugs containing the highly-addictive opiod narcotic hydrocodone       ... MORE

Who Should Make Medical Choices For You?

by Lawrence W. Reed.       Almost a decade ago, I went to Canada to obtain a customized medical procedure on both of my eyes—a procedure not yet approved by federal authorities in the United States. It involved a new “wavefront” LASIK technology designed for patients with a combination of astigmatism and very thin corneas. For more     ... MORE

Daren Bakst: Government Control Of Your Diet

Threats to the "freedom to eat."       Many politicians and self-appointed nutrition czars see Americans as incapable of making decisions about a basic necessity of life: eating. Therefore, they feel that government at all levels must try to control their diets. This control means trying to direct people to eat a certain way or expressly  ... MORE

The Problem With Federal Food-Labeling Laws

by Baylen Linnekin.       Since I wrote a column focusing on the increasing ubiquity and success of private food labeling in June, a series of important federal food labeling issues have made headlines. Not surprisingly, the government’s actions are mostly rife with drawbacks. Just this month, the FDA published a final rule on gluten-free   ... MORE

Government Nannies And The New Caffeine Crackdown

by Baylen Linnekin.    The FDA announced earlier this week that the agency will investigate “any and all products with added caffeine.” FDA officials claim they were spurred to take action after the recent introduction of one product, Alert Energy Gum, a new caffeinated gum made by Wrigley. The agency argues that such a novel product   ... MORE

Robert Higgs: ABC's For Today's Public School Students

A is for Alzheimer’s Disease.    If you eat lots of vegetables and floss your teeth, you will live a long time and get this condition as your reward. B is for Baconator. If thou shouldst ever eat one, thou shalt surely die. C is for Crumbling Infrastructure, an incantation government officials mutter when they want to spend more of the public’s money   ... MORE

Brady Dennis: FDA To Roll Out New Cigar Regulations

Government continues to reduce the people's options.   Nearly four years after it began regulating cigarettes, the Food and Drug Administration is poised to extend its reach to a broader range of tobacco products. At the top of that list: cigars, which have experienced a boom in recent years even as cigarette sales have declined, in part    ... MORE

Phil Kerpen: Government Spending Hurts People

The money comes out of their hides.    We should not accept the statist premise that most government spending helps people. Government spending is not just wasteful or inefficient, but all too often serves to crush the private economy and individual freedom. In the coming days the media will provide a constant stream of purported victims of   ... MORE

Michael Moeller: There Is No 'Good Regulation'

The case for unbridled economic freedom.   For an unapologetic capitalist, it's particularly frustrating when an allegedly pro-capitalist politician lacks the intellectual ammunition to adequately defend the free market. Concessions to statist opponents provide the illusion that statists have the moral upper hand. This is especially self-defeating when a  ... MORE

Let Consumers Make Their Own Choices On Sugary Drinks

by Baylen Linnekin.    Earlier this week the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), a group that regularly pushes for increased food regulations and considers soda to be “a slow-acting but ruthlessly efficient bioweapon,” announced it would be launching “a major action regarding the regulation of soda and other sugar-sweetened beverages.”       ... MORE

Baylen Linnekin: Food Freedom Vs. Regulatory Busybodies

The state of things are looking up.   While national stories like the multi-pronged assault on energy drinks and the FDA’s proposed Food Safety Modernization Act rules rightly grab headlines—and often my attention—it’s perhaps too easy to overlook the fact that much of what’s good and bad in the area of food law and policy is taking place in our backyards    ... MORE

Baylen Linnekin: The FDA's Pathetic Food Safety Proposal

Costly rules that won't make safer.    Earlier this month the FDA released drafts of two highly anticipated food-safety rules. The agency has billed the proposed regulations as key tools for implementing the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), the biggest FDA food-safety update in more than seven decades, which President Obama signed.    ... MORE

Baylen Linnekin: Labeling Law Will Hurt American Pizza

Congress needs to order a slice of wisdom.   This week, as a new Congress was being sworn in, the Food and Drug Administration released two sets of controversial and long-delayed food-safety rules. Another FDA rule that’s been long in the making is the agency’s proposed menu-labeling rule. The purpose of that rule, first proposed in 2010 as  ... MORE

John Stossel - Food Bunk

We'll all be poisoned!      With America's "fiscal cliff" approaching, pundits wring their hands over the supposed catastrophe that government spending cuts will bring. A scare newsletter called "Food Poisoning Bulletin" warns that if government reduces food inspections, "food will be less safe ... (because) marginal companies ...    ... MORE

6,125 Proposed Government Regulations In Last 90 Days

Obama administration spitting out an average of 68 a day.   It’s Friday morning, and so far today, the Obama administration has posted 165 new regulations and notifications on its reguations.gov website. In the past 90 days, it has posted 6,125 regulations and notices – an average of 68 a day. The website allows visitors to find and comment on proposed    ... MORE

SF Gate: Most Expired Drugs Work Fine

Most expired drugs remain potent for decades. Thinking about going through your medicine cabinet and throwing out all your expired prescriptions? That might not be necessary, according to a UCSF-led study. Researchers analyzed eight prescription drugs with 15 active ingredients that expired between 28 and 40 years ago and found  ... MORE

Shikha Dalmia: ObamaCare's Rationing By Another Name

About the Independent Payment Advisory Board.  The stunning post-debate reversal in Mitt Romney’s fortunes may not last through the elections. But win or lose, he’ll do the country a big favor if he continues to expose the Independent Payment Advisory Board—the beloved center-piece of Obamacare—for what it is: An effort to give an ... MORE