Federal health officials are attempting to downplay fears of heavy-handed regulation of the food industry, and denied the government would force junk-food packages to bear the sort of graphic photos that
will soon be seen on cigarette packs, reports
HumanEvents.com.
Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Margaret Hamburg took questions Tuesday from reporters at a White House briefing.
“There is a lot of effort under way in the area of nutrition and certainly aimed at the obesity epidemic that is affecting one out of every three children and adults in this country,” Sebelius told Human Events.
Hamburg discussed concerns in the food industry over whether the FDA’s suggestions would be voluntary, but did not confirm either way: “We need to work with industry to be able to provide consumers … with the best possible information about nutrition and health so that we can all make good choices in terms of promoting and protecting health.”
CBS’s Chip Reid asked Sebelius if food packaging would eventually contain “graphic images of clogged arteries and fat-encrusted hearts on really bad food,” a reference to the new cigarette packaging.
“I think tobacco is unique,” Sebelius responded. “It is a product that is the No. 1 cause of preventable death.”
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