Warning: Omissions on labeling issued by the FDA could be hazardous to your health.
The consumer will notice that on cigarette packages that there is a warning stating that ingestion of the smoke of a tobacco product leads to emphysema, lung disease, birth defects, cardiovascular disease and the like.
However, the consumer should also note that he or she never sees a similar label on cheeseburgers, French fries or pizza containers warning of cardiovascular disease.
Likewise, the consumer will note that there is no cigarette package-style warning on candy bars or ice cream cartons warning of the potential hazards of tooth decay by ingesting a sugary product.
More importantly, what consumers ought to see perhaps are more positive labels warning that certain products have beneficial properties. For example, there ought to be labels on tomato crates stating that tomatoes contain lycopene as well as vitamin “C,” and that lycopene is a substance that can protect a consumer from sun damage. There should be FDA-approved labels on kiwi fruits stating that the dun-colored fruit is a natural blood thinner and consumption of them can bring down the risk of blood clots. There should be labels on egg cartons and spinach bags stating that these products contain lutein, which is a vitamin that can fight macular degeneration in the eyes. There should be labels on raisin boxes stating that raisins contain a natural sugar that combats tooth decay.
However, herbal remedies as well as omega oils are just as important as fruits, vegetables and eggs. There is no label on bottles of wei di huang wan, which is a Chinese herbal concoction which can be useful in the fight to reduce the risk of dementia. There is no label on alpha-lipoic acid, which reduces appetite in laboratory animals and may help people dealing with diabetes. There is no label on bottles of the herbal supplement fo-ti stating that this product contains anti-aging properties.
Now, it is not right for so-called experts to make sweeping condemnations of all herbal remedies the way they often do. The people who denigrate the properties and benefits of herbs are probably the same people who erroneously say that too much vitamin intake is hazardous to consumer health.
In fact, probably the same people who say that herbs and vitamins are not really potent and even harmful in certain doses, are probably the same professional doctors who frown upon women who use home pregnancy tests.
Doctors are self-centered and megalomaniacal; they are truly full of themselves. Doctors want to have the full omnipotent power to dictate how people can improve themselves. I believe that snotty doctors who oppose the use of herbal home remedies are probably also sexists.
With that thought in mind, the consumer must also be wary of interactions between different herbs and between vitamins that could pose a hazard to the human constitution.
All consumers need to know all of this and more. Of course, the FDA ought to put a label stating that no supplement, fruit, or vegetable is a panacea for all ailments.