A whistle blower is defined as anyone who exposes any kind of information about a problem and publicizes it inside and/or outside of an organization, either public or private.
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The media is calling attention to potential maladministration regarding federal dietary rules. Nutritional experts should be updating these rules every five years with the public’s safety in mind. The media questions if nutritional experts, with ties to the corn-syrup industry, actually care about society’s health. Potentially, the nutritional experts are solely focusing on their own self-interest.
As David Lazarus said in his Los Angeles Times opinion piece, “Meanwhile, a blue-ribbon committee of nationally recognized health and nutrition experts advising on the new guidelines contains significant ties to food and beverage companies.” The media warns about new guidelines that focus on their previous ties.
Conflicts of interests are a concern. Nutritional experts “may not want to jeopardize funding for future projects.” The media warns of potential new guidelines that increase the income for previous industries.
The upcoming dietary guidelines are extremely important. This is because they will address not just school lunches, but also dietary needs of pregnant women and infants. As well as deal with the obesity epidemic that is costing our country 175 billion dollars annually in health care.
Should a former a corn-syrup lobbyist be the ones in charge of deciding our nutritional guidelines? For once the media is taking care of society and as a whistle blower warns us of potential dangers.