MITCH MORRISON, VICE PRESIDENT
AND GROUP EDITOR
E-mail your comments to Mitch Morrison at
[email protected].
[ industry view ]
FDA Stands for … What?
“Y
ou know what the F
means in FDA?” the
man asked me.
“Food,” I responded innocently.
“Well, maybe for you,” he said. “For
me, the F rhymes with ‘duck.’ ”
Welcome to our February cover
story, and an attitude.
I write this column as an Arizona
congresswoman fights for her life,
the Tucson Timothy McVeigh waives
bail, and the burial of a federal jurist,
a precocious 9-year-old and four others is planned. And Republican and
Democratic lawmakers use inflamed
rhetoric to accuse the other of using
inflamed rhetoric.
It’s true, our rhetoric—buoyed
by ubiquitous electronic media,
shorter attention spans, limitless
cable stations and countless blogs
and tweets—has hit new chords of
discordance. Reasoned conversation
is out; boorish castigation is in.
And thus this month’s cover story.
We know what most retailers think
about the FDA, especially as it relates
to our ability to sell tobacco. We want
an unfiltered marketplace, to sell without restriction, to market whatever to
whomever, wherever and whenever.
Yes, we will tolerate certain intrusions. We can endure the concept of
age restrictions because we have kids
and agree that 10-year-olds shouldn’t
be drinking or smoking. At the same
time, we fume over the notion of
empowering the federal government
to regulate the only narcotic not under
some kind of federal jurisdiction.
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CSP
F e br u a ry 2 0 1 1
This cover story looks at both sides
of the issue. Yes, you will hear from
important local voices, from NACS
and NATO, from industry advisers
and a retailer or two. But the weight
is clearly and consciously shifted to
the men and women of the Food and
Drug Administration who are trusted
to prevent tobacco from landing in
the hands of minors and empowered
to make sure our food is safe.
In exclusive interviews, we talk to
Dr. Lawrence Deyton, director of the
FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products;
and to Donald Kraemer, acting deputy
We caution the FDA to
be sensitive to retailer
expenses and costly
impositions that yield
minimal public benefit.
director for operations of the Center
for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition.
Neither is a zealot. When we asked
how he envisions the role of his office,
Deyton told us, “As a good partner,
and supporting what [retailers’] needs
are, supporting their ability to implement and enforce the laws that they are
now required to do.” Kraemer was no
different. He talked about removing
the regulatory ambiguities, to establish
a food-safety code that is clear, comprehensive and embraced by local and
state governments.
Neither talked about federal
vigilantism, nor pursuing a “gotcha”
enforcement strategy.
That does not mean we’re embracing a kumbaya moment. We disagree
with FDA’s push to impose graphic
portrayals on packs of cigarettes.
Indeed, we believe the vulgar depictions, at best, will maintain smoking
percentages and potentially propel a
backlash that will increase sales. We
reject onerous restrictions on agerestricted tobacco outlets. And we
passionately oppose any effort to
adopt Canada’s hidden-from-view
strategy, which we believe violates the
U.S. Constitution.
At the same time, we are hopeful
the FDA will create a multitiered risk
program recognizing via warning and
packaging that some tobacco products are simply less harmful than others. We also expect the FDA to permit
the sale of menthol cigarettes.
In foodservice, we support rules
centered on temperature control,
food-handling procedures and steps
to prevent foodborne illnesses. But we
also caution the FDA to be sensitive to
retailer expenses and costly impositions that yield minimal public benefit.
Regardless of our positions, there
is something you will not find in CSP
or our CSP Daily News: sensationalism. We will disagree respectfully with
the FDA. We will challenge them and,
when we agree, we will support them.
We will not adopt incendiary language
or militaristic metaphors, nor will we
support others who do so.
It has been said that words can kill.
True. But even worse are words that
lead to bullets.
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