Question

Using nutrition labels as an example, describe and evaluate how the government balances the needs of the community with the rights of individuals.

Answer 1

There has always been a bit of a conflict between what is considered as good for a group and what is considered good for and by an individual. For example, in general, medicine and science have established a standard group of nutrients that are the basis for all human existence.  However, when going into individual cases, medicine and science have discovered that what applies to many may not apply to one person. In general, and as an example, it has always been said that humans need four basic groups of nutrients: carbs, vitamins and minerals, proteins and fats. Thus, nutritional elements and policies are created to ensure that this is fulfilled. But in some cases, you find that people may sustain themselves on only one or two groups of nutrients, while others don´t. So, as a government´s main role is to ensure the wellbeing of a nation, they might make policy choices to enforce that these principles are observed to ensure good health. This is the beginning of labels, which came into being in 1990 with the passing of the Nutrition Labeling and Education Act. This policy forced food producers to inform consumers of the nutrients and ingredients used in the production of food so people could know what they were consuming. With labels governments were able to balance the interests of the individual and the community by giving people the necessary information on processed food so that they could make the correct choices given their individual and group nutritional needs. In this way, the government could ensure that through education, people knew and made the right choices for them within a set of standards that are put in place through the regulatory policies allowed by this Act.