Editor:

The Food and Drug Administration has allowed corporate food businesses to hide their “secret” ingredients for too long. It is now time for the FDA to force these businesses to be truthful to their consumers by providing us with the information on how a product is being produced.

The obesity levels in the United States are at an all-time high. We are also considered the most obese country in the world. Fast food restaurants i.e., McDonald’s, Burger King and so on, are contributing to this unhealthy lifestyle. In adults, over the past 20 years, obesity levels have increased from 30.5 percent to 37.7 percent, and for the youth group it has increased from 13.9 percent to 17.2 percent. This is unacceptable, and the people of the United States deserve better.

Wealthy individuals are polluting our health in the United States. They fund organizations that do not require corporate businesses to provide essential health information that will potentially protect us from obesity and diabetes.

The FDA is an Independent Regulatory Agency that was created to protect the health of the American citizens. By letting lobbyists fund their agency they tend to become corrupt and only benefit who they want. By allowing companies to inject cattle with the growth hormone known as recombinant bovine growth hormone, or rBGH, to increase the production of milk and the weight of the cattle is sickening. When children consume these products, it can prematurely cause puberty. This may cause numerous health problems such as cancer. The Interstate Commerce Clause was put in place by the federal government to regulate trade between states. This clause is an abuse of power and relates to my problem with growth hormones because it all comes down to producing a higher profit. The government should have no say in what goes into our food. The people should decide this.

The American Public Health Association is an organization fighting for this cause. By increasing the funding of this organization people will become better informed on what they consume every day. This will increase the education of our country when concerning food.

Hosein Hart

Buckingham