2011-Aug-02 0106 PM U S House of Reps/State of GA 2022253377

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July 26, 20ll Secretary Kathleen Sebelius D_ S. Department of Health and Human Services 200 Independence Avenue, S.W. Washington, DC 20201 Secretary Tom Vilsack U.S. Department of Agriculture 1400 Independence Avenue, S.W. Washington, DC 20250 Chairman Jon Leibowitz Federal Trade Commission 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20580 Director Thomas Frieden Centers for Disease Control 1600 Clifton Road Atlanta, GA 30333

Dear Secretary Sebelius, Secretary Vilsack, Chairman Leibowitz, and Director Frieden, Obesity and improper nutrition are costly impediments to our country's long-term. health and personal well-being. Diabetes and heart disease are among the resulting lifestyle-related afflictions with very large and growing negative economic and quality-of-life impacts. We applaud your efforts to address these issues by investing in the health of our nation's youth. To support your efforts,language in the 2009 omnibus appropriations bill established the Inleragency Working Group (IWG) to examine nutritional standards and food marketing to children and teens. However, having now seen the IWG's Preliminary Proposed Nutrition Principles for Food Marketed to Children that has been more broadly released to the public for input, we have some concerns that we would like to share. In all matters of public policy, we strive to achieve the proper balance of constructive federal guidance with minimal negative or unforeseen impact. Fundamentally, we are concerned that the IWO proposal could initiate dramatic changes to the manufacturing, marketing, and sales of many food products currently in the marketplace without adequately considering the practical consequences. For example, it is our understanding that there have been significant changes in industry innovations and consumer behavior since 2006, the year upon which IWG bases much ofits analysis. We believe that an evaluation of more recent industry practices and consumer behavior might provide a more relevant assessment of today' 5 food ma.rketing landscape. We support public policy that can improve the health and well-being of Americans. But, we also know that public policy is only as good as it can be feasibly implemented. In this case, we believe that additional information is needed on the economic costs and benefits in order to make a proper assessment of this proposal. Sincerely yours,

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Signature Order
1. John Barrow 2. DanBoren 3. Gregory Meeks 4. Adam Smith 5. Edolphus 6. Tim Holden 7. Joe Crowley 8. Jim Matheson 9. Dennis Cardoza

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10. Brian HigginJ_ _

11. Bennie Thompson 12. JoeBaca
13. Carolyn McCarthy

25. Laura Richardson

14. John Dingell 15. Mike McIntyre 16. Mike Ross 17. Henry Cuellar 18. Mike Michaud 19. Gary Pe.ers....-_20. Ben Chandler 21. Joe Donnelly 22. Jim Cooper 23. Ron Kind 24. Jim Costa .. ..---

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26. Marcia Fudge -27. Shelley Berkley 28. Martin Heinrich L 29. Bill Owens '1 30. David Scott 31. Heath Schuler 32. Sanford Bishop It4 I 33. Leonard Boswell 34. Kurt Schrader

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