“It’s in our interest to have a strong FDA,” said GMA (Grocery Manufacturers Association) President Cal Dooley, a former California congressman. “We need to have consumer confidence in the food products.”
The Wall Street Journal reports (subscription only) that food growers, manufacturers, and grower groups are seeking tighter regulatory oversight. Why might that be? The answer they want you to believe is “an increasing awareness among industry executives that, with several major food-contamination cases recently shaking consumer confidence and damping sales, their push for greater deregulation is hurting themselves.”
Meanwhile, the seafood industry is lobbying Congress for legislation that would require importers to register with the government and be certified before sending seafood to the U.S. It is also seeking to increase the FDA’s funding next year by $200 million so its inspectors can travel overseas to examine plants.
…Complicating the situation is a rising flood of food imports from countries such as China, where regulation and enforcement have been criticized as spotty. While some calls by U.S. industries for tougher standards may be aimed at leveling the playing field with cheaper imports — or may even be protectionist measures in disguise — they underscore the challenges that U.S. companies face as they seek to ensure the safety of products from around the world.
Of course, this is more protectionism on the part of major food manufacturers who wish to keep out lower-priced foreign competition. So when China gets too close for comfort, all of a sudden the food industry corporate executives are singing the praises of regulation and claiming that it benefits them. Amongst all of these corporate giants, citizen special interests, and their crooked and power-hungry government pals, does the diminutive consumer even stand a chance?
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While the regressive nature of regulatory costs is important, I think its also worth mentioning how these companies seek to externalize the costs of food inspection through legislation. They want congress to spend $200 million inspecting food so they or their suppliers don’t have to.
Rent-seeking bastards.
Right, G. I think it is analogous to fiat currency: unwilling to spend resources earning real consumer trust, they go to the government to put its meaningless seals on their packages, much like a counterfitter wants to use government marks rather than to go through the trouble of establishing a reliable, widely accepted currency and then printing extra to use on his own.
Of course, the government itself has also played into this. For one, over the last century or so most people have been inculcated with the idea that government provides all the good things in the world, so consumers at large are fearful of anything that they think has not been properly shielded (as it were) from the deadly radiation of “the free market”.
Another part is that it’s almost certain to be a Democratic, nanny/regulatory-state election in ’08, so it might be the case that the industries are hedging their bets and trying to kiss up so they can get preferential treatment in the future.
I would never knowingly eat anything from China, but I should be free to if I liked.
It’s so important to know where our seafood is coming from. It would be helpful if Giant also posted signs in front of their seafood section warning people about potential mercury risk. At the very least, people should know that FDA and EPA have issued advisories about mercury contamination in commonly-sold fish.
Oceana, a conservation group focused on mercury is trying to get major grocery companies to post this government advice at their seafood counters. Thanks, in part to their work, Whole Foods, Safeway stores, and Wild Oats voluntarily agreed to post the FDA’s recommendations and they have had positive responses from customers and no loss in seafood sales. But companies like Giant have refused to do so. Oceana has a list of which companies care about their customers’ health enough to post this advice, as well as a list of companies that don’t. You can get the Green List and Red List at their website.
Melissa:
My guess is that if enough people gravitate towards products that have the country of origin printed on the label that it will put pressure on competing companies to do the same.
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