Proposed Dietary Guidelines Upsetting Conservatives

April 14, 2014 - PRLog -- WASHINGTON, D.C. (April 14, 2014):  Although conservative groups, blogs, and some media outlets are up in arms about the 2015 Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA)  - using terms like "nanny state" and "food police" [Fox News], a "radical agenda" proposed by the “coastal elite," etc. - the guidelines have little direct effect on the public, and they ignore simple effective solutions related to fast food restaurants which even conservatives and libertarians can embrace, says the attorney who started the growing movement to use legal action as a tool against obesity, just as he used it so successfully as a tool against smoking.

        As Fox News noted in its report: “Banzhaf is known for spearheading litigation against tobacco companies. He's using the same techniques against food companies and restaurants.”

        Studies show that fewer than 10% of Americans are familiar with the guidelines, and most Americans are not even aware that they exist, so taxpayer money being spent on this can't have much direct impact, says public interest law professor John Banzhaf, who’s been called the lawyer "Who's Leading the Battle Against Big Fat," "a Major Crusader Against Big Tobacco and Now Among Those Targeting the Food Industry" and "The Law Professor Who Masterminded Litigation Against the Tobacco Industry."

        RedState's railing against proposals to send text messages to obese people is just plain silly, says Banzhaf.  The only way to see if it works is to try a few small pilot programs, he says, not to decry "nanny stateism," and have debates based upon ideology rather than upon actual experiments producing evidence.

        Other groups worrying that the committee recommending the guidelines will consider factors like sustainability rather than just health can rest assured that some industry group will challenge them if they are based upon legally impermissible criteria, says Banzhaf, noting that the tobacco industry tried unsuccessfully to use legal action to suppress an EPA report on the dangers of secondhand tobacco smoke.

        To get the maximum bang for the taxpayers' buck, the federal government and its committees should go where the action is, says Banzhaf, noting a study showing that fast food chains are the cause of more than 60% of the current obesity crisis, and that tens of millions of Americans not only get most of their unnecessary calories from these outlets, but also form unrealistic unhealthy expectations as to the normal size of food portions, ranging from hamburgers and french fries to sugary soft drinks.

        The federal government already requires fast food outlets to display the number of calories in its offerings on menu boards, but many people have no ideas how many calories are considered healthful.

        Requiring meals which have at least 50% more calories than is considered healthful to display the calorie count in yellow, and in excess of 100% in red, would use the familiar traffic light colors to alert people so they can exercise the "personal responsibility" conservatives are always talking about, Banzhaf suggests.

        Also, fast food restaurants could be required to provide appropriate warnings about frequently consuming some of their offerings, just as cigarettes, alcoholic beverages, even relatively benign over-the-counter drugs, and many other products are already required to do, he proposes for the DGA.

JOHN F. BANZHAF III, B.S.E.E., J.D., Sc.D.
Professor of Public Interest Law
George Washington University Law School,
FAMRI Dr. William Cahan Distinguished Professor,
Fellow, World Technology Network,
Founder, Action on Smoking and Health (ASH)
2000 H Street, NW
Washington, DC 20052, USA
(202) 994-7229 // (703) 527-8418
http://banzhaf.net/ @profbanzhaf