We have some real qualms with the benefits of mandatory labeling for produce….[while] smart consumers will recognize the benefits…it's staggering what people don't know.
The heavy hand of government in the activities of Americans When we have a lot of people in Eastern Europe trying to throw off the yoke of central government, now might be the time to ask Americans 'How much government do you want?'
Our industry, along with others, created an Industry Committee on Quantity Declaration which filed a report with the National Conference Committee on Laws and Regulations. The National Conference on Weights and Measures then adopted a model regulation on package labeling which industry now supports. This regulation basically protects the public by requiring a prominent quantity declaration, yet it does not discourage research, innovation and improvements, nor does it limit the consumer’s freedom of choice.
There is no question but that this legislation would put Federal bureaucracy in complete control of the size, the weight, the pictorial matter, and the copy on every food package. I wonder if anyone has stopped to think that the idea of seeking Government authority in advance before making a vital business decision is absolutely inconsistent with some of our most fundamental and cherished American traditions….Unless I have been misinformed all these years, I have been under the impression that we are dedicated to the proposition that within reasonable limitations the American citizen is free to do as he pleases…
[It is a] collectivist [myth that business people] would attempt to sell unsafe food and drugs, fraudulent securities, and shoddy buildings….It is in the self-interest of every businessman to have a reputation for honest dealings and a quality product.
If you would pass a law which requires unnecessary expense…that expense must to some extent be ultimately borne by the public. Either the consumer or the producer must stand it.
The very great objection to that is the possibility of confusion. We have State laws and we have city laws in the matter of constructions, and we have insurance laws that we have got to comply with….the construction of a building that might suit the Secretary of Agriculture would not suit those folks, and what might suit those folks might not suit the Secretary of Agriculture.
Here is the Argentine Republic, which is competing with us to-day in the markets of the world with dressed beef and canned products; here is old Mexico, and other countries of South America. These countries have not such restrictions will absolutely capture the trade from this country if we make unreasonable restrictions that keep us out of business in foreign countries.
It makes business sense to have them clean. We want them to be sanitary, and expect them to be sanitary, and will do anything in reason to make them sanitary. The only question is whether it will not lead to complications, to make the Secretary of Agriculture the judge as to what is sanitary. He might be disposed to call in some outside talent…and we most certainly question the qualifications of that talent.
We have no authority until the meat becomes commerce. You see we have a right to control commerce, but not manufacture. I have the belief that it would be better if the Federal Government had general power to enact police powers for the protection of the people against impure and unwholesome foods, if it could stop with that…There is not one single thing in the Federal Constitution that expressly confers upon Congress any police power whatever, and by police power I mean the power to enact laws for the preservation of the public health, the public morals, and the public peace.
