FDA

The article that I chose to blog about this week was on the FDA. The FDA, which stands for the Food and Drug Administration was set up by the government to help regulate the safety of things that a consumer purchases. This includes food, medicines, products, etc. I personally think that the FDA does not do a good job and can be misleading. I always thought that if something was FDA approved then it meant that whatever the product or food or medicine said it could do, then they agreed. I have recently found out that this isn’t true. Apparently, when something says FDA approved, it simply means that whatever it is safe to use, eat, etc. but does not mean that it does what it says it does. For example, some weight loss supplements are FDA approved, however, this just means that the product is safe, not that it actually works.

The FDA does make sure that when there is false labeling or misleading information on something, that the company must correct it. Like I said before, the job of the FDA is to make sure what the consumer is purchasing is safe, but it is hard to be safe when the product has misleading information or isn’t telling you the whole truth about what it really is or does. Recently, the FDA sent warning to 17 manufacturers about their products having false information on 22 labels of their products. The only reason they did this is because many people including myself check the labels and make purchases accordingly. I know that I expect what the labels say to be true or else I probably wouldn’t buy most of the stuff that I buy.

An issue that the FDA Company was having with some of these manufacturing companies’ labeling was that they would make claims like their olive oil is “extra light” which would lead consumers to believe it was lower in calories and fat. However, this was not the case. What was “light” about the olive oil was that the color was and so was the taste. If they were going to be honest, the label must read something like “Extra Light Tasting Olive Oil”. There are a lot of other issues with products being 0 grams Trans fat. Even though a product might be less than that, it may still be high in saturated or other fats, which can be even worse for you. It makes me happy that the FDA is mandating stricter labeling laws.

Another thing that I noticed was that the FDA is good about sending out warnings with products. Another article that I read was talking about an antidepressant warning about the side effects that this medication may have based on other studies and cases of people who have taken the medication. It talked about how some people have become even more depressed from taking it and actually committed suicide. Now without this warning, some people might see the medication and take it because they think that if the FDA approved it, then it must be safe and work. Luckily by having a warning label, it warns parents of children who are going to be taking it and also adults who are going to be taking it about potential side effects. This warning label might make people think twice about this product and they might not take it. By having this warning label, the drug company who makes this product might try and remodify it so that there aren’t these side effects or there are less harsh side effects. Antidepressant medication isn’t the only product that has warning labels, however most medications do. I have seen commercials where it will say: may cause heart conditions, diarrhea, nausea, or even death if taken too long. When I hear side effects like that, it makes me not want to go anywhere near those products. I feel as though the side effects are worse than me just dealing with the problem I am currently having. However, like I mentioned before, if I didn’t see these warnings from the FDA, then I probably would consider trying it out and seeing if it worked. The only thing that I don’t understand is how the FDA could approve something that if taken too long could kill you??!! That just doesn’t make any sense to me.

I am overall very thankful of the FDA because I know a lot of research goes into what they consider safe and they have strict regulations that the companies must follow.