HOLLYWOOD – Nicole Richie, a celebrity not particularly known for her social conscience,or her interest in food, has asked California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to become involved in the movement to stop the passage of legislation that would delete many warnings from food labels.
What has Ms. Richie’s bib in a tucker is a bill passed by the United States House of Representatives yesterday. Two hundred eighty-three members of the house, arguing that “alarmist warning labels on foods” are degrading the shopping experience, voted to delete many warnings from food labels in an effort to make them more user friendly.
The vote could potentially result in the removal of warnings about arsenic in bottled water, lead in candy, allergy-causing sulfites in dried fruits, among other ingredients.
In essence the House-approved measure, which was heavily supported by the food industry, would prevent states from adding warnings to food products if those warnings are not required under federal rules. Therefore, New York state would be forbidden from alerting people to the high levels of mercury present in some products, because federal rules do not require similar warnings.
“There’s a time and place to talk about food ingredients that could make you sick,” allowed representative Phil Gingrey (R-Ga.), “but the supermarket isn’t one of them.”
Mr. Gingrey, who voted in favor of the bill, added, “People who go to the supermarket want to enjoy a quality shopping experience. They want to listen to quiet music, enjoy a cappuccino, get a massage, perhaps. The last thing they want is to be confronted by some alarmist warning on a food label.”
One hundred thirty-nine members of the house, including representative Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), opposed the bill.
“This would be the most sweeping change in decades to our nation’s efforts to protect the food supply,” said Mr. Waxman. “This is a disaster waiting to happen.”
Ms. Richie’s office announced that she was scheduled to appear at a rally this weekend to raise public awareness about the proposed legislation. Ms. Richie also called on Governor Schwarzenegger to join her at the event.
“It’s important that people be aware of all the ingredients in their food,” said Ms. Richie in a prepared statement. “Otherwise the hidden calories in chemicals and additives might make food more fattening that it appears.”
Supporters of the house measure argue, however, that in addition to “preserving the integrity of the shopping experience,” the proposed legislation would greatly reduce “copycat food warnings,” especially among blue states. “There’s a tremendous amount of lawmaker-see-lawmaker-
do competition among certain states with regard to warning labels,” said representative Mike Rogers (R-Mich.). “If wine made in California sprouts a warning about sulfites, the next thing you know candy manufactured in Pennsylvania has a warning about rat feces parts per million in chocolates.”
Mr. Rogers and others who support the bill argue that current practices are “patently egalitarian” and that consumers deserve the same warnings on supermarket shelves across the country.
“If we allow a special warning label one state, we ought to have it in all fifty states,” he said. “If sulfites are bad for California citizens, aren’t they bad for citizens in all the other states? I’m not aware of any research demonstrating that the effects of sulfites are state specific. It’s not fair to give California residents an advantage that residents of other states don’t have. That’s not what democracy is about.”
In related news, an amendment to the legislation would allow states to petition the federal government if they feel a warning is justified by special circumstances. South Dakota, for example, could appeal for an exemption that would permit it to warn consumers that coat hangers should not be used internally.
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