Free Republic

Telling consumers where their meat, fruit and vegetables came from seemed such a good idea to U.S. ranchers and farmers in competition with imports that Congress two years ago ordered the food industry to do it. But meatpackers and food processors fought the law from the start, and newly emboldened Republicans now plan to repeal it before Thanksgiving. As part of the 2002 farm bill, country-of-origin labeling was supposed to have gone into effect this fall. Congress last year postponed it until 2006. Now, House Republicans are trying to wipe it off the books as part of a spending bill...

When you see the American Heart Association's "heart healthy" label, you have some additional, helpful information about the product you're buying. That seems simple and obvious. But European bureaucrats have decided that their subjects are too stupid to handle such information. New rules governing food labels in Europe, would "put an end to endorsements by doctors or other health experts, because they might suggest that not eating the specified food could lead to health problems" (emphasis ours). Thankfully, the U.S. is going in the opposite direction. The FDA will allow "qualified health claims" on more products -- a move that,...