My BS Meter is warning me about the Authority for the labeling of Foodstuff in 2015 America

I don’t know about you but when I see lots of warnings of impending doom, about any subject, the outcry of SHARE or LIKE on social media websites, and the encouragement of signing of petitions, it sets off my BS meter! My BS meter is registering in the dangerously high range about this recent legislation HR BILL 1599, but I like to research the subject before I lend my name to any cause.

 

In the interest of transparency I will tell you that I do want to know what is in a food item that I buy. I do want the company making profit from that item to tell me what they are putting in the food I am buying so that I can decide for myself if I want to eat it or not. I do want to be able to look at the label and know if it contains a genetically modified organism (GMO) so that I can make the decision if I want to eat it or not. I don’t want the “Secretary” to decide if GMO is good or bad because if the Secretary decides GMO is OK then it won’t be on the label.

The recent legislation HR BILL 1599 seems to say – on page 4 and 5 – that the “Secretary” has all the power to decide if something is worthy of being included on foodstuff labels. I know that many people don’t take the time to read and figure out what the heck is really being said in these bills that our representatives are voting on in Washington.  You can click on the link for HR BILL 1599 within this article, I will also give the links at the end of this article.  As I read HR BILL 1599 I kept asking myself who is this “Secretary” it refers to that has all this power over what should or shouldn’t be on a food label. I found the answer, the Secretary of Health and Human Services see cite source (2)  below.

I’ve told you what I think but I don’t want to tell you what to think, I want you to take the time to read the bill and other information for yourself and make up your own mind. We all have the right to speak our mind and to write our representative to tell them how we feel. I don’t know about you but I don’t want to be daft following the alarmist who is shouting the sky is falling. I don’t want to automatically believe what is printed or told because I have a mind of my own and I want to understand the facts and decide for myself.

 

(1) HR BILL 1599

(2) http://www.fda.gov/Food/GuidanceRegulation/FSMA/ucm382490.htm  (1) In general.–Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment of this Act and annually thereafter, the Secretary of Health and Human Services (referred to in this subsection as the “Secretary”) shall submit a report to the Committee [[Page 124 STAT. 3944]] on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate and the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives on the use of recall authority under section 423 of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (as added by subsection (a)) and any public health advisories issued by the Secretary that advise against the consumption of an article of food on the ground that the article of food is adulterated and poses an imminent danger to health.