Kirkpatrick

Emma Kirkpatrick
Bradley
Government 2
16 October 16
Food Labeling
As of the start of the 21st Century, the average American consumes 3,800 calories per day
(Profiling Food Consumption in America). These calories are the essential fuel used to get
through a shift at work, a class at school, or a game at the soccer field. Ever since the publication
of Upton Sinclairs The Jungle and the passage of the Food and Drugs Act of 1906, Americans
have begun to question the ingredients and production process of their food. New laws that
required nutrition facts and daily intake had increased information for consumers about food
products, but in this new age of technology, pesticides, and genetically modified foods, more in
depth laws must be passed in order to keep food in the best condition for consumption. Every
American deserves the knowledge of how these calories were produced and what effects they
could have on the body. The Food Labeling Act of 2016 should be passed in order for Americans
to make more informed decisions about their food intake within a food industry full of portion
distortion, harmful ingredients, and unhealthy amounts of ingredients.
Portion sizes have steadily increased throughout American history, which has led to
misleading nutrition facts that could contribute to obesity. Due to constant snacking and the
additives in foods, people eat much more in a day now, than ever before (Serving Sizes and
Portions). They eat food that contains more calories than important nutrients. Most people
regularly eat an entire package of food, which contains double or even triple the serving size
written on the label, thus doubling or tripling the calories, fat, and %Daily Values (How to

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Understand and Use the Nutrition Facts Label). This leads to much confusion and deception
about how much Americans are actually consuming when they eat a single package of food.
From a young age, people are shaped to eat foods full of fat and sodium, such as fast food, and a
lot of it, which can result in harmful health effects later in life. This trend of eating greasy, salty,
fast food has been instrumental in the fast-growing epidemic of obesity that has been named
Americas largest health concern (The Dangers of Eating Fast Food). Portion distortion is also a
huge factor in the large increase of overweight health problems. Serving sizes on nutrition facts
labels should be changed in order to more accurately portray the portion size that an average
person would eat, in order to decrease confusion.
Food is supposed to be a necessity in a persons life but now it has become an excess.
Most packaged food contains too much of the basic ingredients, which has led to the trend of
overconsumption with respect to sugar, calories, sodium, trans fats, and saturated fats
(Examination of Front-of-Package Nutrition Rating Systems and Symbols). As a whole,
Americans are eating more than they are aware and more than their bodies need. Fast food does
not contain certain complex carbohydrates that are proven to reduce cardiovascular disease risk,
lower cholesterol levels, and improve digestion. Instead they consist of incredibly high sodium
levels, which are associated with strokes, high blood pressure, and kidney dysfunction (The
Dangers of Eating Fast Food). Foods that contain too much sodium, fat, sugar, or calories should
be labeled as such in order to warn the consumer of the harmful health effects. The
overconsumption of food and all of its components has turned the fuel for the body into a sort of
slow-acting poison, that builds up over time and can eventually lead to health repercussions.
Food production has entered a new age that includes the use of genetically modified
organisms, pesticides, and additives that could cause long-term diseases. The obesity problem

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due to the overconsumption of foods high in fat is directly related to the huge increase in the
amount of people with Type 2 diabetes. Nearly 70 percent of all Americans are overweight and
most of these people have pre-diabetes, which puts them at risk for nerve damage, dementia,
kidney damage, heart disease, stroke, and cancer (Dr. Hyman, Mark). Not only can foods put
people at risk for diabetes, but also some contain harmful bacteria and chemicals. Genetically
modified foods have been a subject of great controversy over the last decade. They have been
studied and some are found to have a toxic effect on certain organs involved in the pancreatic,
renal, and reproductive systems (Health Risks of Genetically Modified Foods). Pesticides have
been used for growing crops increasingly as newer technology has become available. These
chemicals, meant to either help the plant grow or prevent organisms from eating it, are harmful
to both the farmer who tends the crops and the consumer who eats it. Ingesting foods
contaminated with such pesticides can be especially dangerous for infants, children, and pregnant
women. Exposure or ingestion of pesticides has been linked to increasing numbers of children
aged 8-15 with ADD or ADHD (Health Risks of Pesticides in Food). Other foods can also cause
health deficits, including hotdogs, soft cheeses, unpasteurized juice, store-bought salads, and ice
cream, which may contain listeria, E. coli, and Salmonella. Even meats and seafood can pose a
threat to health. Poultry, raw fish, raw shellfish, and smoked seafood can contain parasites,
bacteria, Vibrio bacteria or even mercury (Checklist of Foods to Avoid During Pregnancy).
Cooked meat can be dangerous as chemicals such as heterocyclic amines (HCAs) and polycyclic
hydrocarbons (PAHs) can form under high temperatures. These chemicals are known to be a
factor in the development of cancer (Chemicals in Meat Cooked at High Temperatures and
Cancer Risk). The chemicals, bacteria, or modified organisms in food are known to cause long-

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term or even deadly illnesses. The American people deserve to know what kinds of risks are
associated with the food they put on their tables or pack in their lunches.
Some people may say that extra precautions and a standardized system of labeling food
would be too costly and not provide enough benefit. Critics would complain that creating,
enforcing, and changing the packaging of food items in order to comply with a standardized
system of food labeling would require more money than it is worth. The process of altering food
packaging in adherence to the system would be expensive, but the money used in the healthcare
system to cover the repercussions of foodborne illnesses is much higher. In 2012, the total cost of
treating diagnosed diabetes was $245 billion and is estimated to be $125,000 in a lifetime for
each person diagnosed around their 30s or 40s (PubMed.gov). Additionally, every year in the
U.S. about 48 million people are affected by a foodborne illness, which adds up to an estimated
$15.5 billion a year. Of these illnesses, about 90 percent are linked to only 15 pathogens and are
thus easily preventable with some extra warning labels and precautionary measures (Batz,
Michael). The use of a standardized labeling system would actually save money and lives by
decreasing the amount of foodborne illnesses. Other critics would insist that consumers would
not benefit from more in depth labeling, as they do not pay attention to labels on food items.
Actually, over half of all Americans read food labels before buying a product (Survey Shows
Gains in Food-Label Use, Health/Diet Awareness). Consumers are merely confused about the
meaning of each food label that they read. A standardized system of labeling would give a clearer
perspective of the effects each food item has. Instead of wasting money and not helping the
consumer, a food labeling law would improve health within the nation, save money, and provide
consumers with the information that they deserve.

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It is time for Americans to know and understand what is inside the 3,800 calories they
consume in a day. They should be aware if those calories could cause cancer, ADD, or kidney
dysfunction. They should be informed about the dangers of obesity and diabetes if their food
contains too much fat and sodium. Americans should be able to tell from a food item label what
effects it could have on their health, as well as the portion size, components of ingredients, and
excess of ingredients. The Food Labeling Law should be passed in order to improve the health
conditions and eating habits of Americans to save their bodies, brains, and even lives.

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Work Cited
Batz, Michael, et al. Economic Burden of Major Foodborne Illnesses Acquired in the United
States. Economic Research Service. U.S. Department of Agriculture, n.d. Web. 16
October 2016. http://www.ers.usda.gov/media/1837791/eib140.pdf
Checklist of Foods to Avoid During Pregnancy. FoodSafety.gov. Food Safety, n.d. Web. 29
September 2016. https://www.foodsafety.gov/risk/pregnant/chklist_pregnancy.html
Chemicals in Meat Cooked at High Temperatures and Cancer Risk. National Cancer Institute.
NIH, n.d. Web. 4 October 2016. https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/causes-prevention
Dr. Hyman, Mark. The Blood Sugar Solution. Hyman Enterprises: London, 2012. Print.
Examination of Front-of-Package Nutrition Rating Systems and Symbols. National Academy
of Sciences. Institute of Medicine of the National Academies, October 2010. Web. 18
September 2016.
http://www.nationalacademies.org/hmd/Activities/Nutrition/NutritionSymbols.aspx
Health Risks of Genetically Modified Foods. PubMed.gov. NCBI, February 2009. Web. 18
September 2016. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18989835
Health Risks of Pesticides in Food. School of Public Health University of Washington. Center
for Ecogenetic & Environmental Health, n.d. Web. 4 October 2016.
https://depts.washington.edu/ceeh/downloads/FF_Pesticides.pdf

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How to Understand and Use the Nutrition Facts Label. FDA.gov. U.S. Food & Drug
Administration, 25 May 2016. Web. 18 September 2016.
http://www.fda.gov/Food/IngredientsPackagingLabeling/LabelingNutrition
Profiling Food Consumption in America. Agriculture Fact Book. U.S. Department of
Agriculture, n.d. Web. 16 October 2016. http://www.usda.gov/factbook/chapter2.pdf
Serving Sizes and Portions. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. U.S. Department of
Health & Human Services, 30 September 2013. Web. 18 September 2016.
http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/educational/wecan/eat-right/distortion.htm
Survey Shows Gains in Food-Label Use, Health/Diet Awareness. U.S. Department of Health
and Human Services. U.S. Food and Drug Administration, n.d. Web. 16 October 2016.
http://www.fda.gov/ForConsumers/ConsumerUpdates/ucm202611.htm
The Dangers of Eating Fast Food. The Heart Links Project. Stonybrook.edu, n.d. Web. 18
September 2016. http://www.stonybrook.edu/heartlinks/fastfooddangers.pdf