Analysis: When Government Makes Us Sick (Gov Exec)

[struggle4progress]

By Glenn Davidson
March 6, 2009

... I confidently consume processed food products -- as do millions of other Americans -- because I assume that regulators, especially the Food and Drug Administration, are on the case ensuring our safety ...

But FDA's recent record on food and consumer product safety is dismal:

A peer-reviewed report in the journal Environmental Health found that high fructose corn syrup is commonly tainted with trace levels of mercury. The lead author of the study, Renee Dufault, was an FDA researcher who was aware of the results in 2005, then went public after retiring from the agency in 2008.

Researchers at the University of Rochester in New York say in a study released in January that bisphenol A, which is used to make plastic and suspected of causing cancer, stays in the body much longer than previously thought. In 2008, FDA declared the chemical safe for all use in an assessment that contained language from reports written on behalf of chemical-makers or others with a financial stake in BPA ... http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0309/030609analysis.htm