On the same topic "is our food safe" let's look at another Government Agency who 'works for our own good'.
The Food and Nutrition Board (FNB) is a unit of the Institute of Medicine (IOM). It is interesting that the chair of the FNB (as of 2004) has been consultant to several major dairy-related companies such as National Dairy Council, Mead Johnson Nutritionals, which is a major seller of dairy based products, Nestle Company and a Dannon Yogurt affiliate. Simultaneously, he was chair of the Dietary Guidelines Committee that establishes the Food Guide Pyramid and sets national nutrition policy affecting the National School Lunch and Breakfast programs, the Food Stamp Program and the Women, Infants and Children Supplemental Feeding Program (WIC). As chair of this latter committee, his personal financial associations with the food industry were not publicly revealed as required by federal law. Eventually a court order, initiated by the Physician's Committee for Responsible Medicine, was required to force him and his fellow colleagues to reveal their relationships with the food industry. Although the chair's industry associations were more substantial, six of the eleven committee members also were shown to have ties to the dairy industry.
"The entire system of developing public nutrition information has been invaded and co-opted by industry sources that have the interest and resources to do so. They run the show. They buy a few academic hacks who have gained positions of power and who exercise considerable influence, both within academia and government.
It seems curious that while government scientists are not allowed to receive personal compensation from the private sector, their colleagues in academia can receive all that they can get. In turn, these conflicted individuals then run the show in collaboration with their government counterparts. However, restricting academics from receiving corporate consultancies is not the answer. That would only drive it underground. Rather, the situation would be best handled by making one's industry connections a matter of public disclosure. Everyone needs to know the full extent of each academic's associations with the private sector. Disclosure and full transparency is in everyone's interest. These associations should not be something we have to go to court to discover.
Lest you think that this FNB is merely a five-second news bite that then gets filed into a dusty old cabinet somewhere in Washington, there are tens of millions of people directly affected by this panel's findings. According to the summary of the report itself, the recommended levels of nutrient consumption that are set by this panel are the basis for nutrition labeling of foods, for the Food Guide Pyramid and for other nutrition education programs...They are used to determine the types and amounts of food:
* provided in the WIC Program and the Child Nutrition Programs such as School Lunch
* served in hospitals and nursing homes for Medicare reimbursement
* found in the food supply that should be fortified with specific nutrients
* used in a host of other important federal and state programs and activities, such as establishing reference values used in food labeling.
The School Lunch Program feeds 28 million children every day. With officially recommended consumption patterns like these, we are at liberty to put any agricultural commodity we want into the hungry mouths of children already suffering from unprecedented levels of obesity and diabetes. By the way, the 2002 FNB report does make one special exception for children: it says that they can consume up to 40% of calories as fat, up from 35% for the rest of us, while minimizing the risk of chronic disease. The Women, Infants and Children Program affects the diets of another 7 million Americans, and the Medicare hospital programs feed millions of people every year. It is safe to say that the food provided by these government programs directly feeds at least 35 million Americans a month.
For people who are not directly fed by the government, this nutrient information still has significant consequences. From September 2002 onwards, nutrition education programs around the country have incorporated these new guidelines. This includes education in primary schools, universities, health professional programs and other community-based programs. Food labels also will be affected by these changes, as will the nutrition information that seeps into our lives via advertising.
In school, our children can be fed more fat, more meat, more milk, more animal protein, and more sugar. They will also learn that this food is consistent with good health! The ramifications of this are serious, as a whole generation will walk the path of obesity, diabetes, and other chronic diseases; all the while believing that they are doing the right thing. Meanwhile, our government and its academic hacks can feel free to unload more meat, more fat, more animal protein, and more sugar onto the neediest among us. For others concerned about nutrition, every time they see a dietitian, every time they see their doctor, every time they see a nutritionist, and every time they go to a community health center, they may be told that a diet high in fat, animal protein, meat and dairy is consistent with good health, and they needn't worry about eating too many sweets. Posters that deck the bulletin boards of public institutions will now feature these new government guidelines as well.
In short the FNB report which represents the most sweeping regressive nutrition policy statement ever seen, will either indirectly or directly promote sickness among Americans for many years to come.