Rosa DeLauro Tackles Obesity.

Our U.S. Representative in Milford CT and beyond, plans to tackle obesity. On Saturday, November 10Th she introduced legislation entitled (MEAL) or The Menu Education and Labeling Act. The purpose of this bill is to educate consumers of fast food as to nutritional ingredients, these include fat, sugars, sodium, etc. contained in the food we eat.

This is a great piece of legislation and I hope it passes. For one I never really knew how unhealthy fast food can be and to pick on one culprit out of many, I would like to single out McDonald's. This one is one I personally know from eating there myself and also because I saw the "Supersize Me" documentary. If no one has seen "Supersize Me" I highly recommend it as it will enlighten you as to the health effects and nature of cheap fast food.



DeLauro, in introducing this bill does however, appear to be having a change of heart when it comes to the fast food giants. Delauro voted against H.R. 554 or the October 2005 Personal Responsibility in Food Consumption Act. This was a bill that passed the house with an overwhelming majority. This bill also known as "The Cheeseburger Bill" would have allowed for the fast food giants to be liable for wrongful deaths as a result of their product being abused.

Why the change in heart? I cannot answer this but I can say that her voting record on fast food accountability is now inconsistent. My personal view is that rather than allow for the litigation of these big companies they should share in the high cost to hospitalize the low income people who end up sick because of their products. While I am no scientist, I think it is reasonable to assume that the food served by these establishments is of poor quality and a major contributor to diseases like diabetes.

This bill that DeLauro is introducing is a good bill, it is also a good start but I personally feel it does not go far enough in holding these nutritional culprits nearly as accountable as the they should be. I would be really excited to know that this bill is was followed by a 10% health care tax to assist Husky in treating the uninsured, children and poor elderly.

The reason this food exists is because of the food codex or "Codex Alimentarius" and American's despertion for cheap food. The food codex itself must be changed if we are to protect every American. The video below is a funny cartoon of what types of additives can be placed in food to keep the cheap. The main ones are those that allow the food to have a higher shelf life, or cheap additives and fillers that can be cut with quality ingredients to keep the cost down.