FDA About to Require Warnings on Many Foods - Thank a Dog Who Testified

WASHINGTON - Sept. 17, 2024 - PRLog -- The FDA plans to propose additional stronger warning labels packages of a large number of foods to fight obesity; which imposes economic costs on U.S. businesses and employees of over $425 billion annually (https://ehdinsurance.com/report-obesity-cost-employers-and-employees-over-400-billion-in-2023/).

Banzhaf has been called "the Ralph Nader of Junk Food," "The Man Who Is Taking Fat to Court," the lawyer "Who's Leading the Battle Against Big Fat," and "a Major Crusader Against Big Tobacco and Now Among Those Targeting the Food Industry."

At a time when there was ingredient labeling for dog foods but not on foods for humans, a law student group called LABEL testified before a Senate committee. To drive home their point, those testifying included a dog wh would know what is in his food if he could read, but his human owner did not enjoy the same protection.

In the early 1970s the Inter-Society Commission for Heart Disease Resources alerted the public to the major health risks caused by fats in processed foods, and recommended that they be labeled.  But its recommendations were almost certain - as with most controversial reports - to be totally ignored.

So a few GWU law students took this enormous 424 page (https://www.amazon.com/Cardiovascular-diseases-guidelines...) and virtually bulletproof scientific and medical report, added a few necessary legalistic phrases and boilerplate language, and submitted it as a formal proposal for governmental action.  In this form, it could not be overlooked or ignored, and so for the first time consumers began receiving some information - although no warnings - about the fat in their processed foods.

Because McDonald's claimed that its famous french fries were cooked in 100% pure vegetable oil, many customers who - for religious and/or ethical/moral reasons would never willingly consume beef products - spent hundreds of millions on its fries - while refusing to consume those of its competitors who did not make the same claim.

So a group of GWU law students, operating as the Vegetarian Legal Action Network, not only helped to expose the deception - although "cooked" in vegetable oil, the fries were "pre-cooked" in beef fat - but put together a lawsuit.

Then, against enormous odds and resources, and because it was impossible to prove any harm to health from the small amount of beef fat, the fast food giant was defeated by a small band of GWU law students by being forced to settle (https://www.nytimes.com/2001/05/20/us/for-hindus-and-vege...), pay out more than $10 million, provide a clear warning, and even issue an apology.

The students' law suit also helped give birth a new public health movement - the fat lawsuit movement (http://banzhaf.net/obesitylinks.html)

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