The word has ancient linguistic roots as a noun describing an insane person - luaticus (L), lunatik (Middle English), lunatique (Old French). Its continued use for classifying the insane persisted until the mid nineteen century when progressive psychiatric schools abetted by liberal intelligentsia , and other profound thinkers of the gentler, kinder socialist forces morphed it into a politically correct less critical manor of describing the insane, ‘psychologically disturbed’. More contemporary understandings and use are ascribed to other noun forms, that is, Obama, and federal bureaucrat.
The U.S Food and Drug Administration’s regulatory functions began with the passage of the 1906 Pure Foods and Drugs Act . Harvey Washington Willy, Chief Chemist of the Bureau of Chemistry of the existing Department of Agriculture championed the 1906 law for a greater Federal government role, “ providing basic elements of protection that consumers had never known”, Fda.gov.
FDA: Walnuts are a drug
Fast forward. WALNUTS are a DRUG. The FDA has issued a warning letter to the Diamonds Food Company, Inc. to immediately desist from including on their packaging that walnuts contain Omega-3 fatty acids. Diamond’s printed packaging merely contained this known fact. FDA further alleges other violations in that the company’s web site contained information describing additional scientific and medical evidence for recommending human consumption of walnuts
Excerpts of the FDA Warning Letter: “"...your walnut products are offered for conditions that are not amenable to self-diagnosis and treatment by individuals who are not medical practitioners; therefore, adequate directions for use cannot be written so that a layperson can use
these drugs safely for their intended purposes. Thus, your walnut products are also misbranded under Section 502(f)(1) of the Act, in that the labeling for these
drugs fails to bear adequate directions for use..."(emphasis added).
Walnuts are about as natural a food as one can consume. The FDA nut department, however, has now determined that the Omega-3 fatty acids contained in walnuts is a ground to reclassify walnuts as a ‘drug’ and thus under their jurisdiction. Having so pronounced, they further reason that Diamond is violating the law by: "...your firm's website also contains several additional unauthorized health claims..." It is not alleged that these claims are false but rather that the FDA did not authorizes the use of such claims pursuant to their new reclassification of walnuts as a drug.
Few would argue that the FDA should protect the consumer against adulterated food products. Most would argue that the Department’s primary role is preventing dangerous pharmaceutical products capable of killing and maiming the public from entering the marketplace. It does not.
Thalidomide was introduced as a sedative drug in the late 1950s. In 1961. It was withdrawn due to causing birth defects so horrible as to make the most callused cringe. It was sold in a number of countries across the world when it was withdrawn the from market after being found to be a cause of birth defects in what has been called one of the biggest medical tragedies of modern times.
When the FDA approves a drug, the agency is effectively giving the drug the proverbial "green light" to enter the prescription or over-the-counter market. At that point, consumers of the drug generally assume that the drug has endured rigorous tests and is safe for its intended use. Unfortunately, that is not always the case.
The FDA was responsible for the approval of Thalidomide, “one of the biggest medical tragedies of modern times.”
The list of tragedies does not end with the above single event. Almost annually drugs approved for human use by the FDA are reported responsible for death and dangerous side effects and removed from the market.
Then too is the ongoing complicity between the FDA and pharmaceutical industry to prohibit the use of scientifically proven natural remedies, many more effective than prescription products. These include a ferocious and protracted battle in the 1970s by the American Medical Association, drug industry, and FDA to declare vitamins to be drugs and subject to FDA control and used only by medical prescription. Almost immediately following Congressional action refusing FDA authority to classify vitamins as a drug, both the AMA and drug industry commenced a massive public relations effort proclaiming vitamins a valuable adjunct to good health but you should consult your medical doctor before using any vitamin, overdose is dangerous.
The operation of the FDA is under the direct control and responsibility of the U.S. president, walnuts and all. It is conceivable that the walnut caper is designed to excite his creative juices or perhaps some form of retribution for opposing Obamacare. The latter may be confirmed by contacting Diamond Foods Company, Inc.
And eat walnuts!
