Admittedly, animal studies do not always predict the behavior of a substance in the human body. To ensure the earlier studies remained accurate when applied to the human population, the Food and Drug Administration and the National Cancer Institute conducted a population-based study of saccharin's role in causing bladder cancer in humans. The study found no clear, increased risk among moderate users, but did find "suggestive evidence" that heavy users--those using six or more servings of the sweetener a day--may have an increased risk.

So it seems that, as for so many other things, moderate consumption is the safe course to take. Sometimes, however, it is hard to know when the line between "moderate" and "excessive" has been crossed, especially when lacking knowledge of the constitution of one's food. Saccharin provides one such example. It is one of the most studied food additives in history, and has not been tied in moderate use to cancer, but the required label for food that contains it is a bit disconcerting. The FDA, however, seems to think that no such disclosure is necessary for other, more harmful ingredients.

For example, trans fatty acids (also known as trans fats) are every bit as unhealthful as saturated fat, but are not listed separately on food labels. For years nutritionists have argued for less than 10% of one's total caloric intake to be that artery-clogging fat, often found in large amounts in snacks under the guise of "partially hydrogenated" oils. Trans fats are desirable to food processors because they keep food fresh and on the shelves longer, as well as make fat solid at room temperature (as in the case of margarine), improving the presentation of food. Yet they are extremely unhealthful. In clinical studies, trans fats heighten levels of LDL ("bad") cholesterol, while lowering the HDL ("good") type.

Saturated ("bad") and unsaturated ("better") fats are the two types of separately-labelled fat. Although the FDA has been urged to make trans fats a separate item on food labels, they have not done so. Some argue that most Americans do not seem to care that they are overweight, as their annual weight gains attest, and that even when they are aware of the danger of too much fat, they persist in consuming increasing amounts of fat-laden snacks. Yet sales of organic foods are surging, too, and there remains a significant portion of the population who desires to live and eat well. Disclosure remains the desirable option. The government should see to it that users of a product, especially of one that is consumed in such large quantities so often, have adequate information about the product to make an informed decision that everyday impacts their health and well-being.

Labeling is more than a good idea; it can save many lives. Concerns have been increasing about disclosure of allergens in food manufacturing. One sad case concerns a bride who ate a wedding cake not knowing it contained peanuts, to which she was highly allergic. She had asked the waiter about possible nut contamination, but the latter was apparently misinformed. She died as a result. Recently the food industry has agreed to voluntarily step up its efforts to identify allergens.

Of equal concern is the regulation of alternative medicines. Under heavy industry lobbying, Congress abrogated the government's right to regulate food and drugs with the Dietary Supplement Health & Education Act of 1994. It placed dietary supplements (irrespective of their content, so long as they are sold as supplements) outside the jurisdiction of the highly regarded FDA. As a result, nearly none of the widely sold supplements--including vitamins--contain ingredients as advertised, according to numerous studies such as those conducted by Consumerlab.com. Some contain ingredients like ephedra, also known by Ephedrine or its Chinese name Ma Huang, that have been linked to 42% of all "adverse event" reports for dietary supplements from January 1993 to February 2000. These include 81 deaths, 32 heart attacks, 62 cases of irregular heartbeats and 69 strokes. Yet George W. Bush and his business-friendly advisors persuaded Texan authorities to suspend enforcement of a labeling law requiring the printing of a toll-free number to the FDA on the packaging of products containing ephedra, for the purpose of reporting suspected side effects.

The public-interest group Public Citizen has called on the FDA to ban sale of the substance. "These herbal supplements are marketed as being all-natural and safe, but in reality they are not safe," reported Dr. Sidney Wolfe, director of Public Citizen's Health Research Group. "They can harm and kill."

Ephedra is normally used in supplements advertised to promote weight loss, muscle building and energy. Millions of Americans take ephedra products.

When dealing with alternative medicines, it can be difficult to tell the genuine products from the placebos. Chinese medicine, for example, has been practiced for millennia, and are still prescribed in one form or another to many millions of Chinese. It is often effective when used correctly; but the American public, unfamiliar with that entirely different approach to health, cannot tell charlatans from true practitioners without help from the government. Ginseng, for example, would never be recommended by any person familiar with the plant to a patient who is to undergo a surgical operation. It has been proven to be a factor contributing to excessive bleeding in the uninformed who went under the knife.

Americans are not aware of everything that is in our foods and drugs. We consume more preprocessed food than people in any other country. Such foods contain chemicals that make them more durable or more tasty, which is why consumers prefer them to healthier food. There is nothing wrong with that in principle, except when the public is not informed about the possible downside to consumption. While efforts are being made to improve information availability, the best advice is still to read the labels and to follow the rule of "everything in moderation."
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