Supermarkets cry foul as FDA proposes new food labeling rule under ObamaCare

[Phurfur 70]

If the Food and Drug Administration gets its way, your trip to the grocery store could get a tad pricier.

 

Supermarket owners argue a pending federal food-labeling rule that stems from the new health care law would overburden thousands of grocers and convenience store owners -- to the tune of $1 billion in the first year alone.

 

Store owner Tom Heinen said the industry's profit margins already are razor thin. "When you incur a significant cost, there is no way that that doesn't get passed on to the customer in some form," he said.

 

The rule stems from an ObamaCare mandate that restaurants provide nutrition information on menus. Most in the restaurant industry were supportive of the idea, but when the FDA decided to extend the provision to also affect thousands of supermarkets and convenience stores, the backlash was swift.

 

 

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/02/06/jail-time-for-food-labels/?test=latestnews#ixzz2KDmGj0Ze

[Bruce Benedict 0]

Corporations hate it when they're told that they can't continue to fock over the people in a way that maximizes profits.

 

See also: Wall Street, 2008.

 

The mandate that a corporation's primary obligation is to its shareholders, and that that obligation invariably means taking unethical advantage of the customers, is why capitalism will always be, at its heart, an evil ideology. Thank Goddess creeping socialism is here to help grant us a protective buffer from the Krogers, Monsantos, and Chase Banks of the world.

[Patriotsfatboy1 1,432]

This requires the supermarket to report the nutritional information on prepared foods, like packaged foods and restaurants have to do. The supermarkets say that they have razor thin margins and can't afford to do something without passing on the costs to consumers.

 

The reality is that their margins on the prepared foods are HUGE. They should tell you what is in the food that you buy from them. I can see the regulations being too much of a burden if they have to break it down in too much detail, but the current non-regulation is a big issue. If you want to go buy a prepared meal at the supermarket, the idiot behind the counter has no clue what is in it, how it is prepared and whether it is loaded with fat/sodium or anything else.

 

The FDA could come up with something that is reasonable, but we all know that they won't.

[MDC 5,893]

I'm supposed to be outraged that supermarkets are forced to tell me what's in the food I might ingest?

[Bruce Benedict 0]

POT AND SOCIALISM!

 

Thank you again, Obama.

[Bruce Benedict 0]

I'm supposed to be outraged that supermarkets are forced to tell me what's in the food I might ingest?

Spoken like a commie pinko Anti-American heathen without Kroger in his portfolio.

[Lackman 0]

I'm sure everybody has been noticing all the supermarkets that seem to be going out of business. So, Obama wants to make it harder for them to stay in business. And the higher prices is another gut punch to punish the middle class.

 

The end game is people standing in line for hours to get their share of government cheese and toilet paper.

[hoytdwow 202]

I'm supposed to be outraged that supermarkets are forced to tell me what's in the food I might ingest?

yes, Phartfart can't stand anything that's changed since 1962. Bring back leaded gas and DDT @#!@

[Patriotsfatboy1 1,432]

I'm sure everybody has been noticing all the supermarkets that seem to be going out of business. So, Obama wants to make it harder for them to stay in business. And the higher prices is another gut punch to punish the middle class.

 

The end game is people standing in line for hours to get their share of government cheese and toilet paper.

The ones that are going out of business are the old style places with no variety and no prepared foods. The ones affected by this are thriving.

[NorthernVike 2,080]

The cost of the obamacare tax to american people just keeps rising.

[Lackman 0]

The ones that are going out of business are the old style places with no variety and no prepared foods. The ones affected by this are thriving.

 

There is a vast difference between thriving and barely scraping by. Historically, that is what supermarkets do. Barely surviving. All the markets try to keep prices as low as possible, constantly trying to undercut the competition, to attract business. They make money purely on volume rather than profit margin. They will take losses on overall customer purchases just to keep them away from competitors, depending on what sales they are running that week.

 

Prepared foods have higher profit margin. But you need to consider the short shelf life and extremely high spoilage rate, which makes it very risky to put out such products.

[hoytdwow 202]

My local supermarket just finished a huge remodel to add ... you guessed it, a giant prepared foods section.

[Patriotsfatboy1 1,432]

There is a vast difference between thriving and barely scraping by. Historically, that is what supermarkets do. Barely surviving. All the markets try to keep prices as low as possible, constantly trying to undercut the competition, to attract business. They make money purely on volume rather than profit margin. They will take losses on overall customer purchases just to keep them away from competitors, depending on what sales they are running that week.

 

Prepared foods have higher profit margin. But you need to consider the short shelf life and extremely high spoilage rate, which makes it very risky to put out such products.

 

So, are you saying that supermarkets who provide prepared foods should not have to tell you what is in those prepared foods?

 

The industry as a whole has lower margins, but they are also in a less volatile market.

[RLLD 3,455]

The governments primary role in our economy is to increase costs, they can blather on all day about how they exist to maintain an organized society, but in the end they always bow to the plutocracy, they always only increase costs, and make the world an increasingly worse place to exist.

[KSB2424 3,083]

This doesn't bother me at all. It's education and I'm all for eduction (even at a cost). Educating the consumer as to exaclty what they are ingesting in their bodies is a good thing. When you eat at home and prepare your own meals you know what the ingredients are; however if you are restaurant or any person who prepares food then you should be transparent in what ingredients were used.

[Recliner Pilot 61]

And this improves the country's healthcare delivery system how exactly?

[Lackman 0]

So, are you saying that supermarkets who provide prepared foods should not have to tell you what is in those prepared foods?

 

The industry as a whole has lower margins, but they are also in a less volatile market.

 

The government is overstepping it's power by forcing the food industry to label it's product a certain way. I'm against nearly all industry regulations in general. Let the market police itself. If the product is bad, word will spread. That's how restaurants either survive or go out of business. So should prepared foods for sale. It's unfortunate both may have to declare ingredients.

 

And it's insane how many times labels with expiration dates get replaced so that customers buy way past expired prepared foods unsuspectingly. So what good is the label of ingredients going to do when you buy spoiled, harmful bacteria laden product?

 

More than anything, I advocate preparing your own food.

[KSB2424 3,083]

Not to go off on a tangent but this gets back to how we all should be thinking (because its how I think).

 

Our collective gov't should arm its citizens (by way of regulations) with knowledge and then empower the people to decide for themselves in a free market system. You educate the masses and then leave it up to them to make individual decisions for themselves. It goes back to the tride and true conservative mantra of "Give a man a fish he will eat for a day, teach a man to fish and he will eat for a lifetime." Well a big part, probably the biggest part of that saying is the word "teach". Putting labels on products and food and ciggarettes and such is simply educating them on what they are buying and ingesting.

 

Educating the masses as to what is in the food they buy is a good thing. Then give them the free will to buy and ingest what they want. i.e. no need to put a 'sin' tax on the fatty foods or the sodas or the sugar.

 

I'm all for transparency and eduction; but know this, once people are educated there is no reason for gov't to decide anything for us. At least not here in America.

[Recliner Pilot 61]

Not to go off on a tangent but this gets back to how we all should be thinking (because its how I think).

 

Our collective gov't should arm its citizens (by way of regulations) with knowledge and then empower the people to decide for themselves in a free market system. You educate the masses and then leave it up to them to make individual decisions for themselves. It goes back to the tride and true conservative mantra of "Give a man a fish he will eat for a day, teach a man to fish and he will eat for a lifetime." Well a big part, probably the biggest part of that saying is the word "teach". Putting labels on products and food and ciggarettes and such is simply educating them on what they are buying and ingesting.

 

Educating the masses as to what is in the food they buy is a good thing. Then give them the free will to buy and ingest what they want. i.e. no need to put a 'sin' tax on the fatty foods or the sodas or the sugar.

 

I'm all for transparency and eduction; but know this, once people are educated there is no reason for gov't to decide anything for us. At least not here in America.

Today, people are free to choose not to buy any food product that doesn't have the information they want printed on it.

 

HTH

 

Still waiting for someone to explain how this improves our healthcare delivery system.

[NorthernVike 2,080]

Today, people are free to choose not to buy any food product that doesn't have the information they want printed on it.

 

HTH

 

Still waiting for someone to explain how this improves our healthcare delivery system.

You have to realize liberals are too stoopid to figure out what to eat so they want the government to tell them. They are lazy shiftless stoners.

[Lackman 0]

Not to go off on a tangent but this gets back to how we all should be thinking (because its how I think).

 

Our collective gov't should arm its citizens (by way of regulations) with knowledge and then empower the people to decide for themselves in a free market system. You educate the masses and then leave it up to them to make individual decisions for themselves. It goes back to the tride and true conservative mantra of "Give a man a fish he will eat for a day, teach a man to fish and he will eat for a lifetime." Well a big part, probably the biggest part of that saying is the word "teach". Putting labels on products and food and ciggarettes and such is simply educating them on what they are buying and ingesting.

 

Educating the masses as to what is in the food they buy is a good thing. Then give them the free will to buy and ingest what they want. i.e. no need to put a 'sin' tax on the fatty foods or the sodas or the sugar.

 

I'm all for transparency and eduction; but know this, once people are educated there is no reason for gov't to decide anything for us. At least not here in America.

 

If people are so helpless and stupid to make decisions on what food to buy, we should just slap a sticker on everything with amber alert colors. Slap a big old red sticker on a pineapple, a blue on a can of tuna, a green one on a prepared pizza. Then hang up an index for what each color means. This bad, this not so bad, this almost bad, because arbitrary government decisions should be the be all and end all. Because, let's not forget, the government is better equipped to run your life than you are.

[TD Ryan2 314]

I'm supposed to be outraged that supermarkets are forced to tell me what's in the food I might ingest?

 

Q: I'd like to buy this car, what kind of engine does it have?

A: we don't have to say.

Q: OK, is it all wheel drive or front wheel drive

A: not sure, it will cost more if we have to tell you

Q: Can I at least choose my tires? What kind of tires are offered?

A: again, we could tell you, but that will be extra.

[Patriotsfatboy1 1,432]

The government is overstepping it's power by forcing the food industry to label it's product a certain way. I'm against nearly all industry regulations in general. Let the market police itself. If the product is bad, word will spread. That's how restaurants either survive or go out of business. So should prepared foods for sale. It's unfortunate both may have to declare ingredients.

 

And it's insane how many times labels with expiration dates get replaced so that customers buy way past expired prepared foods unsuspectingly. So what good is the label of ingredients going to do when you buy spoiled, harmful bacteria laden product?

 

More than anything, I advocate preparing your own food.

 

What?

 

If the product is bad, people can die. One of the government's key responsibilities is the protection of the food supply.

 

If a supermarket changes the expiration date on food, it is a federal crime. Whether those dates really matter or not is a different matter, but you can't change expiration dates.

[MDC 5,893]

Between phillybear, NorthernVike and RPIAFP there's a whole lot of stupid going on in this thread.

[NorthernVike 2,080]

Q: I'd like to buy this car, what kind of engine does it have?

A: we don't have to say.

Q: OK, is it all wheel drive or front wheel drive

A: not sure, it will cost more if we have to tell you

Q: Can I at least choose my tires? What kind of tires are offered?

A: again, we could tell you, but that will be extra.

Must be hard to get though life being too stupid to do your own research.

[Recliner Pilot 61]

Q: I'd like to buy this car, what kind of engine does it have?

A: we don't have to say.

Q: OK, is it all wheel drive or front wheel drive

A: not sure, it will cost more if we have to tell you

Q: Can I at least choose my tires? What kind of tires are offered?

A: again, we could tell you, but that will be extra.

Q: Am I free to go somewhere else and buy something else?

 

A: Yep.

 

 

Problem solved.

[Lackman 0]

What?

 

If the product is bad, people can die. One of the government's key responsibilities is the protection of the food supply.

 

If a supermarket changes the expiration date on food, it is a federal crime. Whether those dates really matter or not is a different matter, but you can't change expiration dates.

 

In my younger years, I've worked in many different food related locations. Every single place changes expiration stickers. Every. One. If you tossed something because of expiration, you would be fired for wasting product.

 

Oh, the government is protecting the food supply. Banning salt, sugar, trans fat, etc. They're on their way with the cavalry to protect people from themselves.

 

How many people actually read a food label? Maybe 2% or 3%, and that's probably because it's health related. It's all so stupid.

[RLLD 3,455]

Not to go off on a tangent but this gets back to how we all should be thinking (because its how I think).

 

Our collective gov't should arm its citizens (by way of regulations) with knowledge and then empower the people to decide for themselves in a free market system. You educate the masses and then leave it up to them to make individual decisions for themselves. It goes back to the tride and true conservative mantra of "Give a man a fish he will eat for a day, teach a man to fish and he will eat for a lifetime." Well a big part, probably the biggest part of that saying is the word "teach". Putting labels on products and food and ciggarettes and such is simply educating them on what they are buying and ingesting.

 

Educating the masses as to what is in the food they buy is a good thing. Then give them the free will to buy and ingest what they want. i.e. no need to put a 'sin' tax on the fatty foods or the sodas or the sugar.

 

I'm all for transparency and eduction; but know this, once people are educated there is no reason for gov't to decide anything for us. At least not here in America.

 

Agree.

 

However, our government is controlled by the economic powers of the world, and as such they traditionally disdain the kind of freewill you are stating. Historically, our government has been keen to crush this kind of environment anywhere they see it rise globally.

[KSB2424 3,083]

Must be hard to get though life being too stupid to do your own research.

When I go to to a restaurant and buy a Grilled Chicken and Pasta dish (for example) I might not of thought it was all that bad for me. But maybe they sautee the Chicken in a pound of butter before slapping it on the grill. Maybe they add oils to the pasta so it wont stick. Maybe they don't make their sauce fresh like they imply, but used canned sauce that has like 1500mg of sodium in it. And by the the time they put it all together this little Grilled Chicken and Whole Wheat Pasta dish they have under the "Good for you" menue items has like 60% of your daily intake of saturated fat and like 2000mg of sodium in it.

 

You can't be educated on the ingredients a restaurant used in a dish uless they tell you.

[hoytdwow 202]

Question:

 

If you don't believe places that sell prepared food (restaurants, supermarkets) should have to disclose the ingredients, do you think any food you buy should list the ingredients? Say, a box of cereal, or frozen pizza. Why/why not?

[edjr 5,567]

it's already 8 bucks for a gallon of milk. wtf else do they want?

 

also, I want them to start putting stickers on dog food so i know how many carbs the dog is getting

[Patriotsfatboy1 1,432]

In my younger years, I've worked in many different food related locations. Every single place changes expiration stickers. Every. One. If you tossed something because of expiration, you would be fired for wasting product.

 

Oh, the government is protecting the food supply. Banning salt, sugar, trans fat, etc. They're on their way with the cavalry to protect people from themselves.

 

How many people actually read a food label? Maybe 2% or 3%, and that's probably because it's disease related. It's all so stupid.

 

Well, I worked in the supermarket industry across multiple companies for about 8 years when I was younger. Not once was I ever instructed or did I ever see anyone change expiration stickers on things. NOT ONE. With that said, I know that this does happen and it is not uncommon particularly with low end places.

 

There are laws that are at both the state and federal level that cover expiration dates and whether they are even required on some foods, but changing them is illegal. Now, how many people get caught doing it is another story.

 

As far as how many people read the food label, I can't really even guess. I know that I look, particularly on the sodium and for ingredients that my son might be allergic to. Just because people don't do it does not mean that it should not be there.

[TD Ryan2 314]

Q: Am I free to go somewhere else and buy something else?

 

A: Yep.

 

 

Problem solved.

that's a fair point - see, I don't just pile on you

 

That is what I do now, example:

the grocery store has some kickass chicken wings in their hot foods, but I know the have to be horrible for me, so I've stopped/cut back on them. If I saw some nutritional info on them and they were better than I thought, it would increase the odds of me buying them again.

 

But for now, I just assume they're a bag of death, so I avoid.

[TD Ryan2 314]

Question:

 

If you don't believe places that sell prepared food (restaurants, supermarkets) should have to disclose the ingredients, do you think any food you buy should list the ingredients? Say, a box of cereal, or frozen pizza. Why/why not?

good question.

 

based on my answer above, it would seem to me that anyone that does not want to "reveal" their ingredients/nutrition is probably only going to give you bad news. Consumers who are concerned about nutrition will avoid the product.

 

[edjr 5,567]

Why do people even buy regular milk? Organic milk isn't much more expensive and lasts up to 4 times as long

[TimmySmith 2,782]

Anyone who thinks that Corporations hate regulation has never run a business.

[TD Ryan2 314]

Anyone who thinks that Corporations hate regulation has never run a business.

true.

but individuals don't like Regulations either... we'd all prefere to be unsupervised and do whatever the fock we wanted.

 

And here's the problem:

The Corporations only goal is to make money - they will fock you, me, the environment, our kids and any/everything to achieve that goal. So there needs to be some regulation.

 

The Government is no match for the ruthless efficiencies of the Corporations, and despite their efforts to do the right things "For The People" they fock it up by blowing every budget and failing to achieve any goals.

 

That leaves The People, getting focked by the Corporations and continually sending more and more resources to the ineffective Government in an attempt to stop the focking; and essentially, The People are just getting focked from both ends.

[TD Ryan2 314]

so now I'm going all GFIAFP here, but so be it.

 

Lemme' 'splain what happens at the grocery store once this Law gets passes:

 

The Gov'mt claims they helped the "regular" people and did their jobs.

The Corporations claim that they need to charge more to the regualr people to cover the costs.

 

Meanwhile, some guy making 35k/year at a sh!tty retail job is told he has to compile all the ingredients and look up all the nutritional information of the Chicken Wings he just cooked. This task is just added to his daily chores and in between waiting on customers and cooking the chicken, he adds us the Trans fat and Protein on a spread sheet; the employee is not given any extra time or pay to get the extra task done.

 

It doesn't actually cost the store more, they just whipped an employee harder with threats of transfers to stores with longer commutes and/or demotion and undesireable work hours.

 

In the end, the middle class worker gets it worse, the middle class consumer pays more, the Corporation makes more profit b/c they charge more, and the Government pursues it's next great Crusade to "help the people".

[IGotWorms 3,315]

So they have to label nutritional information on their deli items. I see no problem with that.

 

I suspect the main reason they're against it is that most of the stuff you can buy in a supermarket deli is horrible as hell for you.

[Mike Honcho 4,039]

Q: I'd like to buy this car, what kind of engine does it have?

A: we don't have to say.

Q: OK, is it all wheel drive or front wheel drive

A: not sure, it will cost more if we have to tell you

Q: Can I at least choose my tires? What kind of tires are offered?

A: again, we could tell you, but that will be extra.

 

 

Q: Am I free to go somewhere else and buy something else?

 

A: Yep.

 

 

Problem solved.

 

 

Too bad in this world, nobody is providing that info anymore cause it's not required(costs more). Unfortunate for you, because of this lack of disclosure you ended up buying a Corvair and were killed in 8 mph rear end collision when your gas tank exploded.

 

You weren't missed.