Cancer & New FDA Regulations

Citing statistics that one-third of all cancers are caused by tobacco and one-third are caused by obesity, a presidential panel made strong recommendations that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulate tobacco and certain food subsidies should be eliminated. The American Cancer Society predicts more than 1.4 million Americans will be diagnosed with cancer in 2007 and that 559,650 will die, just part of the bleak statistical analysis which the Panel believes can be addressed effectively by severely cutting tobacco use and reducing chemicals, additives, and high fructose corn syrups in foods.

The President's Cancer Panel Report issued this week recommends that the FDA regulate not only the manufacture and distribution, but the marketing of tobacco products, and that the federal tax be increased (it is now 39 cents per pack) while the nicotine levels in cigarettes be decreased. The Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, which would give the FDA authority over tobacco, was introduced in February and is working its way through Congress, but since the President's public opposition to a tobacco tax increase is well known, the fate of this bill is in jeopardy.

The report focused its primary concerns about tobacco use but also emphasized providing greater access to healthful foods and public school exercise programs if the nation's youth, and adults, are to conquer obesity and its accompanying health problems. Among the recommendations were to "structure farm supports to increase more production of fruits and vegetables, limit production of high fructose corn syrup for use in food, and reinstate physical education in grades K-12. Physical education classes have disappeared from many schools, thus making it more difficult for a majority of children, in particular, to access healthful foods and to participate in regular exercise programs. The panel also suggested that BMI (body mass index) be included in all health exam sectors as a meaningful barometer of healthy weight and to encourage education and information at all levels about nutrition from restaurants to the workplace to schools.

The panel also suggested more stringent regulation of food advertising and encouraged more research about the role of high fructose corn syrup, additives, and chemicals in obesity because high fructose corn syrup, hydrogenated corn and soybean oils are "known contributors to obesity and associated chronic diseases, including cancer."

The full report is available at http://pcp.cancer.gov.