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Comment by paulryanrogers | Hacker News Reader

It's precisely because people have so many choices and possible vendors that regulation is more needed, not less. We can't all be experts in everything. And we all have different levels of self control.

Some producers are becoming so large they can afford to bribe the scientists and regulators. Smaller players are struggling to compete without resorting to adding sugars themselves.

For all these reasons we collectively develop laws and regulations to keep things within some reasonable limits. Considering the obesity epidemic, despite few wanting to be obese, I think tightening the reigns a bit is warranted.

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I don't subscribe to the idea that people are too stupid to figure it out.

Nutrition isn't rocket surgery. If you can read numbers, you can discern the calories and sugar content. You even get a recommended daily percent.

If some people feel like they can't control their lives, maybe there should be an option for those people to give the state parental controls over them, telling them what they can and cannot eat. As for myself, I think what foods I choose to consume are none of the government's business

> If you can read numbers, you can discern the calories and sugar content. You even get a recommended daily percent.

Is it not regulation that forced the display of this information?

> As for myself, I think what foods I choose to consume are none of the government's business

There is a difference though: it's not about choice as much as it is about "good defaults". As a state you should want your folk to have better food, but if some person wants the choice of micromanaging their diet then sure, go ahead.

I shouldn't be struggling to find non-processed food in a supermarket. This is often the case right now, which is why I would very much welcome some more regulation on this.

> I shouldn't be struggling to find non-processed food in a supermarket. This is often the case right now, which is why I would very much welcome some more regulation on this.

What supermarkets do you go to that don't have a produce section and a meat section? Is there some other form of unprocessed food you expect?

Even something like pasta and bread are technically processed (but maybe not ultraprocessed unless its wonderbread)

Surely don't all supermarkets sell potatoes, carrots, green vegetables, fruit, nuts, minimally processed cereals (husk removal and cleaning), fresh meat, fish, cheese, eggs and dairy products including naturally processed cheeses?

I wonder if the term 'micromanaging [their diet]' is a touch perjorative. Given the prevalence of serious chronic diseases which are reported to be strongly linked to what you eat, shouldn't everyone be encouraged to take a serious look at how to 'macro' manage their diet, an action which is almost certainly likely to improve quality of life and maybe life span?

It's not about being too stupid, it's about having so much else in your life to balance mentally that you don't have the resources to investigate the minutiae of diet science.

I'm not advocating for making consumption illegal. I'm saying regulate the commercial production and sale. In some markets sugary foods must be clearly labeled with scary warnings. That's a step in the right direction.

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