Obamacare and the price of gorceries

[Ravi]

Most grocery stores already do it because CONSUMERS want it. Look at your own store, dummies, and see for yourself.

Registered Dietician Jane Andrews showed us what Wegmans is already doing to share nutrition information with customers. She's in charge of nutrition and product labeling. Most foods have the calorie count already stated.

Ray Levato: “How much will all this labeling add to the price is what I think consumers want to know?”
Jane Andrews: “That's a great question. In fact, we've already been doing this for the past ten years. We see this as a cost of doing business. If you want to serve customers who care about health, you'll provide nutrition information because they ask.”

Could placing nutrition labels on prepared foods at Wegmans cost you more? | www.WHEC.com

 

[Decus]

Apparently our benevolent, all knowing, father is not satisfied with driving up the cost of health care, so he has passed down the word that we need to drive up the price of the salad bar in the grocery store.

If the Food and Drug Administration gets its way, your trip to the grocery store could get a tad pricier.
Supermarket owners argue a pending federal food-labeling rule that stems from the new health care law would overburden thousands of grocers and convenience store owners -- to the tune of $1 billion in the first year alone.
Store owner Tom Heinen said the industry's profit margins already are razor thin. "When you incur a significant cost, there is no way that that doesn't get passed on to the customer in some form," he said.
The rule stems from an ObamaCare mandate that restaurants provide nutrition information on menus. Most in the restaurant industry were supportive of the idea, but when the FDA decided to extend the provision to also affect thousands of supermarkets and convenience stores, the backlash was swift.
The proposed regulation would require store owners to label prepared, unpackaged foods found in salad bars and food bars, soups and bakery items. Erik Lieberman, regulatory counsel at the Food Marketing Institute, said testing foods for nutritional data will require either expensive software or even more costly off-site laboratory assessments.

Supermarkets cry foul as FDA proposes new food labeling rule under ObamaCare | Fox News
​

Labeling for the purpose of providing information to consumers is fine - in fact necessary for those with dietary restrictions, or those following a diet based on personal convictions. Labeling should only be about the consumer's ability to make an informed choice but often becomes a means by which to limit their options. How does this effect the individual? In my case I love Publix's deli and trust their food. The basic info about salt or fat content is visible. The ingredients that they use come from well-known brands that are already regulated by the government. It's less expensive than many restaurant takeaway offerings. This just seems like overkill and it would be a shame for people like me to see their deli section close.

 

[Saigon]

Saigon, it raises the prices of food as this will be passed onto the customer.

what don't you get about that

I get that - but the increase is infintesimal, and the labeling also saves you money, because you won't buy a product you end up having to throw out if there are allergy issues.

There will be some set up costs, agreed, but after that - labels don't cost much to print.

 

[LoneLaugher]

No, No, No! You guys don't get it! We do not want the government helping us make informed decisions when it comes to food choices! We want to be told ONLY that which the food producers and resellers want us to know. They have our best interests in mind at all times.

 

[LoneLaugher]

Saigon, it raises the prices of food as this will be passed onto the customer.

what don't you get about that

I get that - but the increase is infintesimal, and the labeling also saves you money, because you won't buy a product you end up having to throw out if there are allergy issues.

There will be some set up costs, agreed, but after that - labels don't cost much to print.

But.....have you considered the huge number of trees that we will have to kill to make all those labels?! What are you, some kind of tree-hater?

 

[editec]

What a bunch of nonsense this complaint is.

 

[Saigon]

Decus -

it would be a shame for people like me to see their deli section close.

Why would your Deli section close?

Do you imagine that countries like France and Italy don't have delis?

 

[OODA_Loop]

I get that - but the increase is infintesimal, and the labeling also saves you money, because you won't buy a product you end up having to throw out if there are allergy issues.

Right. People throw half the groceries away they buy because of allergy issues.

Huge problem.

Government save me.

 

[Stephanie]

I get that - but the increase is infintesimal, and the labeling also saves you money, because you won't buy a product you end up having to throw out if there are allergy issues.

Right. People throw half the groceries away they buy because of allergy issues.

Huge problem.

Government save me.

no kidding, how would we ever survive without our Nanny government..

 

[Esmeralda]

Salad bars are not healthful. They are generally high fat. People think they are eating a healthful meal because it is 'salad,' but much of the food in a salad bar is high fat and high starch. Good health care goes hand in hand with good medical care. If people bring on disease and illness through personal habits, they bring up the cost of health care. When that health care is everyone's responsibility through taxation, then everyone has the right to try to encourage people to live a healthier lifestyle.

One reason insurance companies failed in providing low cost health insurance is because so many people needed the insurance to pay for illness and disease brought on by poor lifestyle choices. The majority of right wing conservatives do not have higher education and high incomes. Those are the type of people who make poor health care choices. Then everyone pays for it. There is another thread here about Atlas Shrugged and 'personal responsibility.' But the majority of right wing conservatives do not take personal responsibility for their health and expect insurance companies or the government to foot the bill for the ensuing health care costs. Republicans like to think they are the ones paying for things like abortion or birth control or health care of minorities on welfare. The truth is that most of the money going to health care is because of people's poor lifestyle choices bringing on disease and illness, that the cost of abortions is miniscule compared to that, and that the majority of people on welfare are white and as often as not conservative republicans.

100% correct.

Our diets affect our health in myriad ways. The deep-fried sugar and white flour diets we suck down in abundance every day is killing us, yet expensive technology exists to counter the terrible food we eat and the diseases they cause and allow us to live longer. People gotta pay for their poor lifestyles. Unfortunately, healthy people are paying for the people with poor lifestyles too. And the Republicans are the first to bitch if any attempt is made to curb the crap diets kids are eating these days.

when did that become the governments Job? or any of you people business WHAT OTHERS EAT?

It is our business what other people eat because poor eating habits lead to health problems which cause higher health care costs which everyone pays for. When people think they are making a healthy choice by going to a salad bar, and when, in fact, it isn't a healthy choice, they should know about it. A salad bar meal can be higher in fat and starches than a Big Mac meal. People don't realize that.

 

[Decus]

Decus -

it would be a shame for people like me to see their deli section close.

Why would your Deli section close?

Do you imagine that countries like France and Italy don't have delis?

It's the margins that some chains operate at. If the cost to implement these new information requirements is accurate and I am taking the the article's statement at face value, then the possibility of closing a section of the store is a real possibility. To provide you with an example I know fairly well and that you might understand, in Europe hypermarkets generate a significant percentage of their revenues on listing fees - brands have to pay the stores a fee (not a small amount) to be on their shelves. With hypermarkets they also have to agree to a number of product promotions each year. On top of that, brands often have to agree to virtually break-even pricing because hypermarkets are ruthless negotiators and offer large volume sales to the brands.

Delis don't benefit from these additional revenue drivers. They are often treated as a pole of attraction for shoppers (like the cheap gas that some hypermarkets also offer) which directs shoppers to their store so that they also see the convenience to shop in that store.

Delis are often labor intensive, with low margins. Add additional cost to the deli operation and it becomes a reason to discontinue the service.

 

[Stephanie]

100% correct.

Our diets affect our health in myriad ways. The deep-fried sugar and white flour diets we suck down in abundance every day is killing us, yet expensive technology exists to counter the terrible food we eat and the diseases they cause and allow us to live longer. People gotta pay for their poor lifestyles. Unfortunately, healthy people are paying for the people with poor lifestyles too. And the Republicans are the first to bitch if any attempt is made to curb the crap diets kids are eating these days.

when did that become the governments Job? or any of you people business WHAT OTHERS EAT?

It is our business what other people eat because poor eating habits lead to health problems which cause higher health care costs which everyone pays for. When people think they are making a healthy choice by going to a salad bar, and when, in fact, it isn't a healthy choice, they should know about it. A salad bar meal can be higher in fat and starches than a Big Mac meal. People don't realize that.

You see people, liberals want in all of your business until it come to ABORTIONS
scratch a liberal find a FASCIST

 

[LoneLaugher]

The irony is ironic.

 

[dblack]

It is our business what other people eat because poor eating habits lead to health problems which cause higher health care costs which everyone pays for. ...

This is why libertarians are opposed to safety nets and state welfare. It's not because we are stingy and don't want to help people in need. It's because these programs are inevitably used by fascists as an excuse to control people.

If you don't like that 'your tax dollars' are going to finance someone else's bad habits, then change that law that makes that happen. Don't use it as an excuse to micro-manage the lives of others.

 

[Esmeralda]

when did that become the governments Job? or any of you people business WHAT OTHERS EAT?

It is our business what other people eat because poor eating habits lead to health problems which cause higher health care costs which everyone pays for. When people think they are making a healthy choice by going to a salad bar, and when, in fact, it isn't a healthy choice, they should know about it. A salad bar meal can be higher in fat and starches than a Big Mac meal. People don't realize that.

You see people, liberals want in all of your business until it come to ABORTIONS
scratch a liberal find a FASCIST

How many right wing anti abortion people are ready to pay the taxes for raising unwanted children in the foster care or welfare system or for the special education classes they need because they grow up in abusive homes or for the legal system costs when they break the law or go to prison? The irony is that you are the fascists. How many of you are willing to pay the higher insurance costs and higher taxes for health care when people who abuse their bodies need health care? You can't have it both ways.

 

[Stephanie]

It is our business what other people eat because poor eating habits lead to health problems which cause higher health care costs which everyone pays for. When people think they are making a healthy choice by going to a salad bar, and when, in fact, it isn't a healthy choice, they should know about it. A salad bar meal can be higher in fat and starches than a Big Mac meal. People don't realize that.

You see people, liberals want in all of your business until it come to ABORTIONS
scratch a liberal find a FASCIST

How many right wing anti abortion people are ready to pay the taxes for raising unwanted children in the foster care or welfare system or for the special education classes they need because they grow up in abusive homes or for the legal system costs when they break the law or go to prison? The irony is that you are the fascists. How many of you are willing to pay the higher insurance costs and higher taxes for health care when people who abuse their bodies need health care? You can't have it both ways.

ah yes, back to that of caring for unwanted children. You see people children to them means a burden and aborting them is more humane I guess

this is how sick our society has become...now keep you noses out what we eat and we'll stay out of your alls killing of the children through abortion

 

[Esmeralda]

It is our business what other people eat because poor eating habits lead to health problems which cause higher health care costs which everyone pays for. ...

This is why libertarians are opposed to safety nets and state welfare. It's not because we are stingy and don't want to help people in need. It's because these programs are inevitably used by fascists as an excuse to control people.

If you don't like that 'your tax dollars' are going to finance someone else's bad habits, then change that law that makes that happen. Don't use it as an excuse to micro-manage the lives of others.

Using your logic, there should be no seatbelts or seatbelt laws, no laws about using cell phones while driving, no restrictions on alcohol consumption before driving, no restrictions on drugs, no child labor laws, no fireworks laws, no laws of any kind involving personal safety. No warnings on cigarettes. No luggage checks when you fly. No laws requiring children to go to school. No, it would all be infringing on and micro managing the lives of others. At the same time you don't want to pay the taxes to support anything that has to pick up after people who cause mayhem in our society. You want one of those societies like Victorian England or France before the revolution where the majority lived in poverty, abuse, squalor and desperation, like animals, while the few at the top lived in luxury and indolence. Do you actually think in a society like that the likes of you would be at the top? The vast majority of all of us would be at the bottom, including you guys. Putting information labels on food isn't controling anyone; it is educating them. How on Earth do you go from putting information labels on food to fascism? Remarkable.

 

[Ravi]

Decus -

it would be a shame for people like me to see their deli section close.

Why would your Deli section close?

Do you imagine that countries like France and Italy don't have delis?

It's the margins that some chains operate at. If the cost to implement these new information requirements is accurate and I am taking the the article's statement at face value, then the possibility of closing a section of the store is a real possibility. To provide you with an example I know fairly well and that you might understand, in Europe hypermarkets generate a significant percentage of their revenues on listing fees - brands have to pay the stores a fee (not a small amount) to be on their shelves. With hypermarkets they also have to agree to a number of product promotions each year. On top of that, brands often have to agree to virtually break-even pricing because hypermarkets are ruthless negotiators and offer large volume sales to the brands.

Delis don't benefit from these additional revenue drivers. They are often treated as a pole of attraction for shoppers (like the cheap gas that some hypermarkets also offer) which directs shoppers to their store so that they also see the convenience to shop in that store.

Delis are often labor intensive, with low margins. Add additional cost to the deli operation and it becomes a reason to discontinue the service.

What bullshit. I seriously doubt that Publix appreciates you spreading the rumor that it will close its delis.

 

[LordBrownTrout]

We all should eat just like Michelle does. Lobster, Caviar and chanpagne. Of course fairness and redistribution are for the little people. Just because they are raising prices for electricity, fuel and food. Well that's okay, they're millionaires it doesn't bother them. They're above the fray but let's have that class warfare its good because we can develop hate for others that we percieve that have more than we do.

I'm really amazed by the bitterness and hatred we see on this boad sometimes.

Really, doc, maybe it's time you just went to live in a country you could respect.

Obviously, you weren't here during the Bush years.

 

[DiamondDave]

when did that become the governments Job? or any of you people business WHAT OTHERS EAT?

It is the government's job to ensure people can make informed choices about what they buy and eat.

Transparent food packaging means that you will know what you buy when you buy it.

That is in the constitution WHERE??

You have the freedom to eat what you want, research into whatever food you are eating, demand as a customer (bringing about by which company you wish to buy foodstuffs from) to get whatever info you want...

But it is NOT the government's job to ensure a damn thing except those freedoms