Michael Torchia, Health Expert says, “There are hundreds of Diet Scams on the internet and nothing is being done about it!
Obesity has become an epidemic in the United States. The average American shopper can be overwhelmed by endless “convenient” food choices and doesn’t have time to get regular exercise. Further, the government’s healthy-eating guidelines make little sense. Public awareness of obesity is increasing, but so is the number of so-called “solutions” to this social problem. One of the greatest contributing factors to American obesity is the consumption of foods with high levels of trans fats, food dyes, artificial sweeteners like high-fructose corn syrup and other toxic chemicals. The long-term ingestion of these dangerous additives can create high levels of toxicity in the body, which can in turn lead to Metabolic Syndrome X (MSX), a condition which weakens immune systems and makes people much more susceptible to disease. MSX can then lead to type-2 diabetes, cancer, heart disease, liver failure, asthma, joint disease, kidney failure and other crippling lifestyle diseases.
Ever wonder why Smucker’s can claim that a spread with 30 percent strawberries is “100% Fruit? Mystified by outrageous claims that can be made about diet programs and weight loss supplements? Curious why dangerous food allergens are often buried within hard-to-read ingredient lists? The OperationFitness.com “Obesity Task Force” reports that part of the problem is that the Food and Drug Administration’s Washington staff to crack down on such problems has been slashed almost in half. The FDA even lacks adequate resources to guarantee the quality of infant formula or to protect the public from fraudulent food claims on web sites, according to the report from the HolisticHealthFoundation.com. Beefing up the agency’s Office of Nutritional Products, Labeling, and Dietary Supplements could save thousands of lives and hundreds of millions of dollars by reducing health-care costs and improving productivity. “While FDA has devoted more money to dietary-supplement issues, its resources for key nutritional health, food labeling, and fraud programs have been cut by more than half over the last decade,” said, Torchia. “Congress has given the agency more to do but less money to do it with.” “Congress has found money for food industry priorities such as speeding the approval of new food additives,” Torchia wrote in letters to leading members of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees. “It is now time to build alliances with health organizations to help the FDA’s nutritional health and ensure the consumer protection guidelines are enforced.”
The Operation Fitness “Obesity Task Force” report key programs are needed such as:
Stopping misleading diet programs and weight loss programs and food-company internet sites; Scrutinize ingredient claims on food labels; Labeling the caffeine content of processed foods; Finishing rules on health-related claims concerning trans fatty acids; Making sure that information on the Nutrition Facts label is accurate; Stopping fraudulent claims for so-called functional foods and medical foods; Ensuring the quality of infant formulas and the safety of new ingredients; Urging industry to provide information on food labels on how to safely serve foods that pose choking hazards to young children; Establishing rules for “Use by” dates on food labels to help ensure food safety;
Defining and policing the use of such terms on food labels as “Natural” and “GMO Free.”
“The numbers of FDA staff in Washington responsible for those areas has declined from 100 to about 45 full-time positions over the last nine years,” Torchia said. “But this part of the FDA has had to take on major new responsibilities such as regulating functional foods containing herbal medicines, setting standards for the labeling of genetically engineered ingredients, and monitoring health claims on the Internet. The FDA’s office responsible for these areas need more help for consumer research and education programs, and Operation Fitness “Obesity Task Force has been created just for that reason.”
“Consumers have a right to expect a safe and honestly labeled food supply,” said Torchia. “We need to protect the health of our nation and future generations.
“The test of the morality of a society is what it does for its children.”
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Contact Information:
Michael Torchia
Health and Wellness Expert
michael@operationfitness.com
www.holistichealthfoundation.com
www.healthypetnation.com
