Book review: The FDA Follies, an alarming look at our food and drugs in the 1980’s by Herbert Burkholz

I’ve heard people bash the Reagan administration many times, but I really never knew much about why. Now I do. Reagan’s and most of Bush’s terms were obviously about deregulation and allowing corporate America to not be hindered in the pursuit of the mighty dollar. Public be damned...

The FDA Follies made me ill. It is amazing how much we tolerate from our government. Oh, wait, it isn’t amazing... major corporations have monopolies on ALL forms of media, which means we are fed misinformation when we are fed any information at all. It made me ill to see how much sickness and death happened as a direct result of the FDA’s laziness, fear of reprisal, and just plain bad management. Yes, sickness and death, allowed to go on for months and even YEARS before action was taken. Much of that action was only taken because the public was starting to figure things out.

Herbert looks at how the FDA interacted with other agencies such as the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the Federal Trade Commission (FTA), etc. He shows problems with the drug approval process, the way the AIDS epidemic was initially handled, and the way food labeling guidelines were handled.

While the majority of the book is disturbing, Herbert seemed to be trying to give credit to the FDA where it was due. He mentions that, after the lack of action on so many issues and after the botched efforts on so many issues, the FDA didn’t get public credit for what it was doing right. Towards the end of the book, the new commissioner of the FDA really did some exciting, positive things, especially on the food labeling front. All of this makes me feel like Herbert was really trying to tell a fair story.

However, I still see blatantly misleading statements on food packaging... twenty years after the positive things the FDA enacted. YOU HAVE TO BE A SMART SHOPPER. YOU HAVE TO PROTECT YOURSELF AND YOUR CHILDREN FROM THE LIES THAT BIG CORPORATIONS TELL YOU. IF YOU ARE BUYING NAME BRANDS, YOU CAN ASSUME THAT YOU ARE EATING TOO MUCH SUGAR, SODIUM, CHOLESTERAL, AND FAT, NO MATTER WHAT THE CLAIM ON THE FRONT OF THE LABEL SAYS! UNDERSTAND THE NUTRITION INFORMATION ON THE BACK, AND COMPARE!

Beyond the book...

My yelling above only addresses one aspect of the book, but it is the one we have the most visibility of. Next time you see a can of soup that reads, “Reduced sodium,” compare it to the regular can of soup. I can promise you will feel taken advantage of. Compare other products with healthy claims to their regular versions. Think critically. Take the time to look. BOYCOTT PRODUCTS WITH HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP!  You should be alarmed at how hard that is to do!

I had a discussion with someone about the government dictating what we can and can’t do. We must wear seat belts in cars and helmets on motorcycles, for example. My argument for wanting the government to do this for us had to do with the gullibility of the majority of the public combined with the deceiving practices of the corporations in their pursuit of profits. I understand that allowing the government to “get away” with passing some laws to protect us from ourselves is allowing a precedent to be set, and that a greedy, corrupt government is likely to carry it too far. By saying, “protect us from ourselves” I am admitting that we are to blame for not questioning the deceiving, misleading tactics corporations use to sell their products. But, how can anyone defend the right of corporations to deceive the public? It is possible that letting the corporations get away with some questionable labeling and advertising claims will help keep consumers from being too trusting, but, considering the trust shown by the majority of consumers when corporations were using snake-oil claims (read the book), I can’t imagine the public ever being smart shoppers as a whole.

Unfortunately, we also have to be smart about the government we are expecting to protect us. The United States government, taken as a whole, is paid for by big corporations. The United States government is NOT for the people, by the people. Without supervision and repercussions, the United States government WILL side with big business at the expense of the common man. We have to pay attention and we have to take action. I should practice what I preach, but I roll over just like the rest of us.

Remember... Kalle Lasn feels it would only take a few hundred, well-organized individuals to change the United States.

For more info on the FDA pre-eighties and post-eighties:

http://www.reason.com/news/show/29518.html

http://www.nolanchart.com/article3637.html