I HATE THE FOOD COPS!

I HATE THE FOOD COPS!

(Center for Consumer Freedom, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)

(Rick Barrett, John Fauber, Alliance for Natural Health, Frazer Chronicle)

Sometimes I feel like a little kid who gets caught with his hand in the cookie jar, I love cookies, I love sweets…..and I know I’m not supposed to have them…..but there sooooo good. I understand that the food industry could care less about my personal health, it’s my business, and that’s the way it should be. Most Americans feel that they have enough savvy to figure out what they can and can’t eat, however many of us do indulge ourselves when we know we shouldn’t, but do we need a governmental department to tell us we most already know?

The Food and Drug Administration, (FDA) is an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services. It was formed in 1906 during President Theodore Roosevelt’s administration, and was initially know at the Food, Drug and Insecticide Agency. Today the agency is based at the White Oak Campus, Silver Springs, Maryland, with Margaret Hamburg, employs more than 9000, has 223 field offices, and has an annual operating budget of $4.36 Billion dollars.

The FDA is responsible for protecting and promoting public health through the regulation and supervision of food safety, tobacco products, dietary supplements, prescription and over –the-counter pharmaceutical drugs, vaccines, biopharmaceuticals, blood transfusions, medical devices, electromagnetic radiation emitting devices and veterinary products.

These guys are the original FOOD COPS, and they have over a hundred years on the job, and in the beginning of their history were more concerned with personal, yet public hygiene. Seems as if there was nothing worse that walking down-wind of a worker, (any kind of worker) who hadn’t bathed for weeks and sometimes months.

Today the FDA regulates more than $1 trillion worth of consumer goods, about 25% of consumer expenditures in the United States. $466 billion in food sales, $275 billion in drugs, $60 billion in cosmetics, and $18 billion in vitamin supplements. Much of the FDA’s operating budget is for goods imported into the United States: the FDA is responsible for monitoring a third of all imports.

Of course there has been criticism of the FDA, it simply comes with the territory, there has been grumblings that the agency had two close a relationship with the companies that they regulated. There also has been complaints lodged that the agency is too tough on American industry.

THERE IS NO DOUBT THAT THE FDA IS NECESSARY

But back to the primary thrust of today’s subject matter…..for we eat that tastes good but can kill you either over an extended period, are within a year or two. Trans fats used to be my friend, and why wouldn’t they be…..check out this list were trans fats can be found:

Cookies, crackers, cakes, muffins, pie crust, pizza dough, breads, stick margarine, vegetable shortening, pre-mix cake mixes, pancake mix, chocolate drink mix, fried foods, donuts, French fries, chicken nuggets, hard taco shells, SNACK FOODS, CHIPS, CANDY, microwave popcorn and frozen dinners.

Almost without exception every above listed food is…..well, a food group, all of my favorite things are listed above with the possible exception of Oreo double stacked cookie. Not only are these tasty morsels my friends, they also have a great relationship with milk…..I’m salivating right now, just thinking about them.

Okay so trans fats turn to sludge in a person’s arteries, I’ll give the food cops that much, but first and foremost, trans fats enhance the flavor and texture of processed foods. I’m now grounded with a caloric consumption of around 1500, meaning that I can have 1.5 grams of trans fats. That’s it, every above listed snackie food, cakes, cupcakes, cookies and yes, even Oreo’s and milk are completely out of bounds for me.

Sadly a guy can’t argue with the logic of what FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg had to say about eliminating trans fats from a person’s diet…..I quote, “the move could prevent 20,000 heart attacks and 7,000 deaths each year.” Yea that might be easy for Ms. Hamburg to say, cause she’s probably one of skinny chicks who never indulged herself with a 12 ounce glass of milk and a package of double stacked Oreo’s.

IF WE WORKED LIKE OUR FOREBEARERS

Most of us comes from a long line of hard workers, at least according to my father (he used to walk to school in snow up to his armpits). I do know that my dad did work hard, mostly harder than any man I’ve ever seen. He was a short Frenchman, who was barrel chested, who probably weighed 150 pounds soaking wet, but was one strong son-of-a-gun.

We are just two or three generations from agricultural farm types of people, and four or five generations from people whose main job was to forage for meat, berries and grew their own vegetables. These food additives are new to us, relatively. In my family’s time, 80 years ago there wasn’t trans fats and other stuff that the industry slips into their product to keep a longer shelf life.

Food cops are becoming a necessity, the foods industry is a fast paced bunch who bear watching…..closely. There bottom line mentality, profit dictates that they be watched, monitored and admonished for their transgressions.

I’m actually a poster boy of what not to eat, and how not to live a life, and I’ve got the zipper in the middle of my chest to prove it. Sure I moan and complain about the high cost of medication, of a hospital stay, and how I’ve had to change my lifestyle…..but without a doubt…..potato chips, Oreo double stackers and a slew of meat products during my formative years, (18 to 60 years) sealed my health condition doom.

It did the same to my father, his eating habits never changed until he got his pacemaker, chocolate cake, cherry pie, bread, and meat by the cart-load. His fate was sealed…..and he died of a heart attack. I’m lucky, the medical team that I have caught me in time, and luckily for me, the medical advancements and the improving technology will hopefully allow me to watch my granddaughters graduate high school and go out on their first dates.

HAVE A NICE DAY!