Remember how the US Government went all out against the cigarette manufacturers and made them solely responsible for the smoking related illnesses of so many Americans, a few years ago?  Many State Governments independently sued the tobacco companies and collected damages from them as did many individuals. I think many individuals and some State Governments are still carrying on the litigation against industry giants like Philip Morris.

I remember how the members of the Senate Hearing Committe grilled the CEOs and Presidents of the tobacco manufacturers during the hearings. The buzzwords were: "What did you know, and when did you know" in reference to the fact that smoking can cause serious health problems including lung cancer and heart disease.

I am appalled that our government is not taking any steps against the food industry, which in my opinion, is causing a much greater and direct damage to the health of virtually each and every individual who live in the United States. I am talking about hydrogenated vegetable oil and corn syrup manufacturers AND the food manufacturers who use these products to manufacture prepared foods and beverages. It is known for quite some time that hydrogenated vegetable oils have trans fats (or trans fatty acids) in them, and trans fats can cause blockage to blood vessels and thus produce cardio-vascular diseases (heart diseases). Similarly, it is known that corn syrup (a much cheaper substitute for sugar), contained in many sweet food products and beverages, does not break down in the body as easily as sugar. Corn syrup gets stored in the liver and eventually gets transformed into fat causing obesity, which even a layman knows increases the risk of high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes, and many other ailments.

Food, unlike cigarettes, is consumed by everybody. In other words, unlike just the smokers, each and every individual is exposed to the risk of serious diseases down the road, unless our government regulates the manufacturing and use of hydrogenated vegetable oils and corn syrup. But our government is doing absolutely nothing about it though we have a Food and Drug Administration in this country. We are spending billions of dollars and fighting imaginary threat posed by Saddam Hossein. We have created Homeland Security to save our citizens from possible attacks by external terrorists. But we are doing absolutely nothing to protect our citizens from internal threats like the domestic food manufacturers who are slow poisoning the entire population to make a few quick bucks for themselves.

I am waiting for the day when a wealthy individual (or a citizens group) sues the US Government for negligence, and make the government responsible for his/her heart attack or diabetes. I am waiting for the prosecuting attorney to ask the Chairman of the Food and Drug Administration questions like: "What did you know about trans fats and corn syrup?", "When did you know it?", "Why did you not take any action to ban these products from the market?"