From: rcollins@encore.com (Roger Collins)
Subject: Re: Libertarian Platform
Organization: Encore Computer Corporation
Date: Tue, 17 Nov 1992 16:08:01 GMT

mrh@centerline.com (Mike Huben) writes:
>Tell me the ingredients in your favorite several alcoholic beverages.
>You can't: it's not on the labels.  Why?  Because they are exempted from
>labeling laws other than volume and proof.  This has resulted in deaths
>from allergic reactions (for example, egg albumen is used to clarify some wine,
>and sensative individuals have died from not knowing such obscure industry
>practices, which a simple label would reveal.)

Are you suggesting that government-required labels prevent all alergic
reactions?  Do you even have any statistics saying how much, if any, FDA
labels prevented deaths?  If it has prevented them, how much did we
spend to prevent them?  How much standard labeling would have been done
voluntarily with the increase in public health consciousness?  How many
other people died prematurely because the FDA refused to let a
particular drug be marketed?  How many drugs were never even invented
because of the slow, expensive FDA testing process?

>It's obvious in the case of alcoholic beverages that the public is not
>responsible enough or capable of determining what a "good" label is.

It's not obvious.  If labeling was not to my satisfaction, I wouldn't
buy.

>It's obvious that the free market never has either.  So who else do you
>propose to do it than elected (or other government) officials?  How will it
>be enforced?  Why would it work when it never has before?

Free market has worked; it is working now.  If you don't think so, start
selling alcohol, PCs, cars, or whatever with "good" labels and make a
fortune!

>I don't know about you, but I like that elected officials have required
>lists of ingredients on food and drug product boxes.  I think uniform
>labelling standards for important information like that enables consumers
>to choose products based on real information, rather than incommensurate
>marketing factoids.

I agree that labels listing the ingredients and weights and even
nutrition information is good.  We just disagree on how it should be
implemented.  I know that producers need not be coerced.  For example,
on some food products, FDA specifies how nutrition information is to be
listed *if* it is listed, but does not mandate that it be listed.  Now,
why do you suppose so many producers list the nutritional information
even though it is not required?  Because that's what consumers want.  If
consumers wanted Better Homes & Garden Approved labels, and government
did not mandate otherwise, producers would give the information in BH&G
format.  It's that simple.

>We already have some labelling laws.  We can see now that their burden is
>not onorous: it's pretty light.  We can see now that their benefits are
>clear.  I don't know about you, but I read that information that is
>mandated by law.  I read ingredients and measures.

I agree; this is one of the least intrusive things the FDA does so it's
not worth spending much time on at this point.

>Mike Huben

Roger Collins
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