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Comment by yummypaint | Hacker News Reader

Simply adopting reasonable labeling rules proven in other countries would fix a lot of problems in general. Japan has a great system for beverages. It wouldn't hurt if we adopted their safety standards around eggs either. https://xn--btro1dr1yrpow7m.com/en/what-are-the-rules-for-ju...

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The irony is that this is the entire reason that the FDA was originally formed - to provide clarity and standardization on food ingredients, but now the FDA is often controlled by the exact same organizations that it's supposed to regulate.

Perhaps it's time for the FDA 2.0 where leadership cannot have any connection whatsoever to the organizations being regulated. If I need years of industry experience and a doctorate to understand why you're adding a chemical to my food, then I don't want it in my food. I don't think that's an unreasonable position. We were far healthier before all of these 'safe' chemicals and additives began being added to food.

Honestly I don't mind if I need to do a bit of reading to understand the purpose behind an additive. But I think that information should be readily available for every processed food product by law. If you're going to add something that can't be purchased as an ingredient at a typical grocery store then you should be required to publish an explanatory statement similar to the MSDS that I can pull up for any given cleaning product or pesticide.

Yes but your "i dont mind" shouldnt constitute consent from everyone else, not everyone has the time or discerning to do that, it should already be taken care of at a higher level as a cost of doing business and hopefully enough to disincentivize bad deaing

But like has anyone spared a thought for the shareholders?

You do not seem to appreciate how regulation works in general in the United States. Product labeling is a perpetual game of cat-and-mouse. I can give you a litany of ways that vendors skirt the regulations, hide ingredients, lie to consumers, and falsify their labels while still remaining 100% legal. And obviously, I am not privy to all of their tricks, but just some of the obvious ones.

I do not know if the Utopian Japanese Food Industry* is so trustworthy and impeccable so as not to mislead customers or engage in malicious compliance. Perhaps they simply abide by the rules and manufacture honest food and inedible leaden paint chips. I don't know; Japan is the place where you can insert your whole rice into a streetside vending machine to have it robbed of nutrients... err, hulled and sifted.

Since I live next-door to a pan-asian market now, I will eventually figure out how they are labeling their sodas and snack foods. Thank you.

* Heartily endorsed/promoted by the sugary, indefatigable punk princess Avril Lavigne: https://youtu.be/LiaYDPRedWQ?si=_ZB7CmKX9RA9C040

God, I miss Tower Records

Works pretty well in Europe as well. You could try adjusting the rules, start testing products and dining the shit out of the ones not following the rules.

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