The FDA Has Gone Nuts

by Dr. Gerard Emershaw

Diamond Foods of Stockton, California made the claim on the packaging of its walnuts that “the omega-3 fatty acids in walnuts have been shown to reduce the risk of heart disease and some types of cancer.” This claim is anything but fringe. At least 35 published medical papers have concluded that “eating walnuts improves vascular health and may reduce risk of heart attacks.”

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) took exception to Diamond Foods’ claims about walnuts, demanding that the company either remove its claims concerning the health benefits of walnuts from its packaging or make a new drug application with the FDA. Yes, the FDA appears to be claiming that walnuts are a drug. The FDA accused Diamond Foods of “misbranding” its walnuts because its health claims were not authorized by the FDA.

The FDA in its original form was created during the administration of Progressive President Theodore Roosevelt in 1906 following the passage of the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906.  The FDA is responsiblefor “protecting the public health by assuring the safety, effectiveness, and security of human and veterinary drugs, vaccines and other biological products, medical devices, our nation’s food supply, cosmetics, dietary supplements, and products that give off radiation” and “regulating tobacco products.” As with most federal agencies, the FDA grew in size and power over the decades.

Many things can be said about the FDA. Most importantly, it is unconstitutional. There is nothing in Article I of the Constitution which grants Congress the power to create a regulatory body such as the FDA and there is nothing in Article II of the Constitution which grants the Executive Branch any such regulatory powers. From a practical perspective, the FDA puts a barrier in between patients and their doctors. It prevents autonomous adults from making important decisions concerning their medical treatment as well as their usage of other related products and services. The FDA is a Collectivist bureaucratic organization which infantilizes adults by subjecting them to Nanny State regulations as if they were children. In many instances, the FDA also leads to suffering and death by preventing sick individuals from utilizing products and services which might have health benefits. In the case of terminally ill patients, the FDA often prevents them from using experimental treatments. Protecting the terminally ill from such danger when they have little hope and nothing left to lose is simply sadistic.

The Diamond Foods walnut case adds a new level of absurdity and a new level of tyranny to the FDA. The FDA is essentially claiming that it establishes truth. While common sense would dictate that 35 published medical papers concerning the health benefits of walnuts would be enough to justify the claims that Diamond Foods has made about the food, the FDA holds itself out as the metaphysical creator of truth. As appalling as this is, it is relatively unsurprising given the positivistic conception that the federal government increasingly takes concerning rights. While rights are natural and exist in virtue of being human, the federal government seems to believe that it alone can bestow or take away rights. This Collectivist approach to rights leads to tyranny. When things such as rights and truth no longer exist objectively and independently of the dictates of government, then it will not be long before the government can claim in an Orwellian fashion that 2 + 2 = 5.

(For a much more detailed discussion of the unconstitutional nature of the FDA and the importance of natural rights, read my new book The Real Culture War: Individualism vs. Collectivism & How Bill O’Reilly Got It All Wrong. Available now on Amazon in both print and Kindle.)