Sequestration cuts will lead to 2,100 fewer food safety inspections in 2013 according to Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Margaret Hamburg.
If the FDA must make the cuts in personnel then why not use those cuts to take a bite out of the causes of the obesity epidemic in the United States.
A restructuring of FDA inspections could shut down junk food producers, fast food operations, and high sugar drink manufacturers. A preferential exclusion of these food products could force the overweight and obese into a healthier diet because they have no other choice.
A survey conducted by the Harvard School of Public Health published in the journal Health Affairs on March 4, 2013, found that between 70 and 90 percent of U. S. citizens favor government action on obesity provided that action facilitates healthy choices.
Any action by the FDA to preferentially inspect healthy food due to the shortage of inspectors produced by a sequestration that is at present of unknown duration would be met with stout and vigorous financial opposition by junk food and fast food companies.
In 2012, according to OpenSecrets.com, Yum Brands alone contributed $294,230 to political campaigns that included $22,250 to Mitt Romney’s campaign and $6,562 to President Obama’s campaign. Yum Brands lobbying campaign in 2011 to 2012 contributed $1.7 in influence. The FDA is lobbied like any other government body.
Yum Brands operates or licenses Taco Bell, KFC, Pizza Hut, and Wing Street restaurants worldwide.
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