Have you got the bite boy??
But i think that watchmice describes some of them better.
In my previous post on artificial food colourings, i said that 6 of them will be phased out in the UK by end 2009. It didn’t start out that way.
Food Standards Agency
The Food Standards Agency (FSD) is a supposedly independent Government department set up by an Act of Parliament in the UK.
After the results of the Southampton study were released, the FSD refused to recommend a ban on these colourings; Instead it squeaked that “eliminating the artificial colourings from the diet might have some beneficial effects in hyperactive children.”
On 12 Nov 08, FSD Chief Executive, Tim Smith, wrote a letter to its stakeholders in which the FSD proposed “voluntary action by UK manufacturers to remove these (six) artificial colours by the end of 2009″.
It also asked that “food placed on the market containing any of the six colours…should carry additional label information that ‘consumption may have an adverse effect on activity and attention in children’”.
Public Interests vs Commercial Interests
Voluntary? Is that the best FSD can do when the health of our younger generation is at risk?
After a bit of reading/digging, i saw the light.
FSD’s “stakeholders” included interest groups such as the Food and Drink Federation, British Retail Consortium and the Food Additives and Ingredients Association.
If FSD claimed to “protect the public’s health and consumer interests in relation to food”, why should its stakeholders include commercial interests?
When your stakeholders have completely different interests, the result is often compromise.
A Call to Watchdogs and Consumers
FSD: Make up your mind. Protect the public’s health or the companies’ pockets. You can’t do both well.
And consumers, watch out. Watchdogs may not be the champions of public interests that they claim they are.
