Do you know how sometimes wives tell their husbands that whichever choice the husband makes about something will be fine, but the husband can tell that he'll be in trouble if he chooses the wrong thing? That's how foodmakers are probably feeling about the oxymoronic "voluntary" guidelines from the Interagency Working Group on Food Marketed to Children (IWG). The idea is to get companies to make foods that meet healthier standards, and if they fail to meet the government's standards, they won't be allowed to market those foods to kids under 18. This would effectively make cereal mascots like Tony the Tiger and Captain Crunch into criminals.
As The strategy simply is to saddle disfavored industries with regulations disguised as 'voluntary,' and therefore not be subject to the normal rulemaking process and judicial review ... when the combined muscle of the four most important regulatory agencies of the food industry offer 'guidelines,' they’re making you an offer you can’t refuse."
Yet again, the government is putting a heavy burden on businesses with new regulations that have dubious value for the consumers they claim to protect. As BNET blogger Melanie Warner writes, "The idea that processed food manufacturers will be able to pull this off for anything more than just a small handful of their products is sheer wishful thinking." But, hey, it will make liberal politicians and the food police feel better about themselves, and how can anyone put a price on that?
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