Should states have different food warning labels?
Everyone knows that California has some of the toughest consumer protection laws in the country - among them Prop 65 that mandates warning labels on.... well just about everything. Although the State's enforcement efforts have been aimed at big businesses, our friends the "trial lawyers" have been suing small business owners who sell those dangerous foods like balsamic vinegar and Wheatena for not warning against naturally occurring chemicals.
A possible fix could be the National Uniformity for Food Act (HR4167) which would do away with individual states' labelling laws, and make it a lot easier for companies to do business throughout the United States.
Although some consumer groups oppose the legislation because it would weaken the more extreme state warning laws (like those in California) the solution is to strengthen the Federal laws, but keep them uniform so small business owners aren't put out of business just trying to keep track of 50 sets of labels for all the different states.
You can go to http://www.uniformityforfood.org/default.htm to see what the cost of Prop 65 is, read articles from the Wall Street Journal and others, see a list of coalition members and send a letter to your congressperson.
