The success of the Nutrition Facts labeling does not get enough publicity.
Rather than outlawing certain ingredients, or creating some kind of health score which a product must be above, Nutrition Facts is a way for suppliers to attest to information about a product in way that is legally binding. If it isn't accurate the penalties are steep.
Consumers then have the information they need to vote with their wallets. Markets cannot function properly without symmetric information, and Nutrition Facts essentially creates a functioning market where one did not exist previously.
Any effort to regulate what's in food would probably be better spent expanding what must be in the Nutrition Facts label. I guess it's nice that we are finally getting around to banning artificial trans fats, but anyone who can read has been able to keep those out of their diet for years. The same can be said about the next bad ingredient, and the one after that.
Rather than outlawing certain ingredients, or creating some kind of health score which a product must be above, Nutrition Facts is a way for suppliers to attest to information about a product in way that is legally binding. If it isn't accurate the penalties are steep.
Consumers then have the information they need to vote with their wallets. Markets cannot function properly without symmetric information, and Nutrition Facts essentially creates a functioning market where one did not exist previously.
Any effort to regulate what's in food would probably be better spent expanding what must be in the Nutrition Facts label. I guess it's nice that we are finally getting around to banning artificial trans fats, but anyone who can read has been able to keep those out of their diet for years. The same can be said about the next bad ingredient, and the one after that.