I understand and empathize with the sentiment, but putting this to practice is extremely difficult and dangerous.  Can you imagine the number of companies that would straight up be taking advantage of others and potentially killing them?   I wish the regulatory process were more efficient, but it has a place IMO.
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This.
	
		
	
	
		
		
			I understand the argument; however, I believe that in this age where information is so easily accessible to all, that our government should be embracing a "caveat emptor" stance towards consumerism.
		
		
	 
And how does that information become available? People try it and get ill or die? Or what about any sort of side effects that are unknown to the average person?
A hundred years ago, drug companies sold baby soothers that contained fairly significant doses of opiates. Nobody had any idea.
Personal accountability is a great concept, but it only works when all the facts are available to everybody and completely accurate, and I doubt that would ever be the case without a public or gov't-sponsored non-profit regulatory body to take a look at everything.
I work largely in the area of dietary supplements, an industry that is about as unregulated as it gets in this country thanks to one Orrin Hatch. Go watch the movie Bigger, Faster, Stronger. The guy making the film picked up some gel caps and flour, and hired a bunch of Mexicans to help him make a few hundred pills. He slapped a label on it claiming it had a bunch of ingredients that weren't in it and would have numerous effects it obviously wouldn't do. Guess what? Those bottles he made could be legally sold without any alteration or research at any supplement store in the nation.
The need for regulation is readily apparent, research on the effects of what we put into our bodies needs to be studied in as unbiased a manner as possible, and those "snake oil salesmen" need to be threatened under severe punishment of law for preying on others. Deregulation gives them the means, they will find a way every time, and it then becomes a matter of when, not if, somebody's life is severely affected or they are killed.
	
		
	
	
		
		
			The problem is that the FDA in no way focuses on costs. Currently, they are trying to level a zero-tolerance policy at flour mills (any positive tests for any food-borne pathogens results in an immediate shut down of mills plus substantial fines). This will substantially raise the cost of bread (estimates show this will at least double flour costs), while consumers are already warned not to eat unbaked flour. The kill step for most food-borne pathogens comes from super-heating them, aka cooking the food.
The FDA is not concerned with costs for the consumers though; so, if this is implemented, poor people will have a much tougher time feeding themselves. Fortunately, they won't have to worry about getting sick when they do, though.
		
		
	 
It then becomes a matter of what you prioritize... Is delivering the basic necessities to all worth it when you can't provide a reasonable guarantee of the safety of those goods?
Prices and public safety have to meet at some reasonable point.
	
		
	
	
		
		
			How and when would one consume raw flour?  licking the cake mixer?
		
		
	 
Didn't your momma tell you not to eat the batter?