OPINION:
The lot of the nannies at the Food and Drug Administration is not a happy one. They just can’t get everyone to eat their spinach. The stubborn rubes out there in flyover land want to decide for themselves what to eat. But the new government regulations just announced will require anyone who sells food to the public to count their customers’ calories.
The Menu Labeling Law, another small-print requirement in Obamacare, applies to chain restaurants, vending machines, sports stadiums, concert halls, convenience stores, movie theaters, bowling alleys and even miniature golf courses.
Since insurance companies (and ultimately the taxpayers) are on the hook for all pre-existing medical conditions under Obamacare, the government has an excuse to monitor people’s “lifestyle choices,” beginning with what they eat. Unless the rubes change their behavior, the argument goes, we’re doomed.
There’s a problem with the scheme, however. There’s no evidence to suggest that throwing numbers at people will actually influence their choices. In fact, according to research by Carnegie-Mellon scientists, “putting calorie labels on menus really has little or no effect on people’s ordering behavior at all.” Despite the scolding and recommendations from experts, people in the study usually ignored calories and chose dinner based on taste, value and convenience. Those who did pay attention to calorie labels were usually health nuts, anyway.
But isn’t it worth it if it helps just one person? Well, actually probably not.
According to the FDA’s own projections, the cost to comply with these new regulations will be well over $1 billion in the first year alone. Such costs will eliminate jobs, cut profit margins and the costs of these unhappy results will be passed on to consumers. The broad regulations will impose a heavy burden on just about everyone.
For example, many grocery stores offer their customers salad bars and hot prepared food. Depending on the season and market conditions, the menus change rapidly from week to week. Complying with FDA rules will hamper the supermarkets’ ability to provide this service. Robert Rosado of the Food Marketing Institute says the regulations “will take away from everything that’s made fresh in the store because the costs involved will be so high. You’re going to lose fresh choices.”
What FDA officials can’t understand is that consumers who want detailed labeling can already get it. Whole Foods, Inc., for example, provides nutritional information (not just calories) with the prepared food it serves at its stores everywhere. Whole Foods caters to a high income, health-conscious demographic that other chains don’t. They know their customers want to know what’s in their food, and they label it without threats from Washington.
Customers who aren’t interested in counting calories prefer savings over labels. By imposing calorie-counting on all food sellers, the government regulators rob consumers of their choice, value and convenience.
Like most laws, these menu-labeling requirements are born of good intentions. But this is the hubris that leads busybodies to try to reshape society through imposed central planning. Like the architects of Obamacare, FDA regulators assume that the people are waifs and the helpless who need a nanny to hold their hands at every turn and choice. Ultimately, it’s a tax the customers are forced to pay for information they don’t need and don’t want.
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