European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - June 27, 1987, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Set write oru calf . Food regulations tales from a Twilight zone by Marian Burros new York times whatever happened to by climates. The artificial sweeteners we Learned to love and then with talk c cancer leave How about applet sprayed with alar Candy dyed with red no. 3 food colouring irradiated foods and sodium nitrite in processed meals Mas the Federal government decided whether these substances and realm eng Are hazardous to human health ii they Are hazardous Why Are they still in use periodically questions about food safety capture Public attention then just As quickly disappear. But even As the spotlight shifts these issues Are followed by contending interest groups including food manufacturers and consumer and environmental groups. The resulting regulatory delays have lasted sometimes for decades a the accompanying list of Case histories indicates. Present and Fanner officials of the food and drug administration and the agriculture department agree on their Rote in this regulatory drama. There is no question thai the Fra s Mission is to prefect Consumers said or. Donald Kennedy the Agency s commissioner during the Carter administration and now president of Stanford University or. Donald Houston administrator of the agriculture department s food safety and inspection service added once you lose sight of thai you will have problems maintaining the Public s  but officials differ Over the approach. Whether the right approach is a heavy regulatory one or basically to encourage innovation within the Industry Kennedy said. I think you will find thai Republican administrations tend to employ the latter and democratic administrations tend to employ the  since the Lalo 1970s, however both Republican and democratic administrations have Cut Back on Agency budgets. The budget has not grown to keep Pace with the growth of responsibilities Kennedy said. But we have always tried to buy that particular service on the  couple the shortage of Money with the inherent slowness of bureaucracies and Tara result is a nether world of unfinished business. If the regulatory system works at All it works slowly said Michael Jacobson executive director of the Center for science in the Public interest a Washington consumer group. Sidney Wolfe director of the Public Miteen health research group and a longtime critic of Federal regulatory policies said enforcement of Laws and regulations too often depends on pressures from the food Industry trickling Down through the while House the office of management and budget the Secretary of health and human services and the Secretary of  americans Are not being adequately protected from cancer causing or other dangerous substances in the food Supply Wolfe said. Members of the food Industry generally disagree lean guarantee you that both consumer groups and food companies say they Are arguing on behalf of the consumer s health said Dennis Phelan. Director of legislative affairs for the National food processors Asso Ciaffon an Industry group. A Tot of consumer groups snarl from the position that there should not be any chemicals in food thai Are potentially harmful regardless of Quantity he said. The food Industry s position is that you should make a Scien Livic assessment of chemicals that May be present and if there is not a health risk Hen there should not be a  the current commissioner of the Fra of. Frank e. Young said there Are reasons for the Stow Pace the complexity of the problems the demands placed on Fra with the vast array of emergencies conflicting priorities and being sure we have our scientific ducks in a  or. Jere Goyan commissioner during the Carter administration said the Agency is very Good on immediate life threatening matters basically All Hose things everyone s against such As  the areas in which the Agency has trouble he said Are where there s a sponsor who wants to use a material that others think might be  the result is a Hodgepodge of regulations that have been proposed but never made final that have been under study for 5,10 or 25 years that have been in litigation for even longer. It is a history of legislative and regulatory delay Hal serves neither the Public nor the food Industry. Erma Bombeck there Are few expressions in Inis world that wih bring a Mother to her feet faster than Don t get up. Just leu me where it  those nine Little words wih resurrect women from a Hospital bed dragging ivs along behind them. Ii will seduce them from a diff Hanger o their favorite evening soap. It s the ultimate Challenge. It s like telling them Tom Selleck is lunching Al the next table but they can t look. For some reason a Mother is supposed to know where everything is. The rationale is she picks up after everyone in the House and puts it away. Therefore she should remember where she put it. There is no time limit on this arrangement a 30-year old kid can come Home and say mom remember those albums of baseball cards i put together when i was 9? where did you put them Don t gel up. Just Lell me where they Are " or a husband will Knock on the bathroom door and shout through the Keyhole what did you do Wilh that picture 1 took of a dog with one ear standing up in Michigan Don t gel up. Just Tell me where it is t Don t know when i became a curator of lost Luggage keys a guardian of sunglasses or a Sentinel of new Rolls of toilet tissue but somewhere along the line i became the guru of an inventory of objects wailing to be found. I say the ensure exercise is initiated by boredom. A husband Wilh absolutely nothing to do we wait uni you Are relaxed and then ask where do you keep the warranty on the Coffee maker Don t get up. Just Ell me where it  ii gets me on my feet in a Flash. I told you nol to get up i can get it. Just Lell me where to  i Don t know where to took i said you mean you re just going to cruise the House i m going to look in the catch All  Why did t you Tell me that because of it did t walk Over the com skewers cold tablets old Church bulletins Hammer birthday candles and Friendship pictures of your son in the 8th Grade and throw itself in your arms you would t find it. You never move  i got you Oul of the chair did t i he snapped. Gelling to your feel when someone wants something is an Edith Bunker reflex thai is hard to break recently a child asked me where Are your car keys Don t get up. Just left me where they  i was on my feet and starting to move until realized she was calling me on the phone Long distance of Washington. C Lai Angeles t Page 10 the stars and stripes saturday june 27,1987