OKLAHOMA STUDY PROPOSAL

Representative Rob Hall, Oklahoma House of Representatives District 67, has filed the following study proposal.  He's seeking someone savvy and sharp enough to testify on behalf of this idea and I hope this will bring someone to his table.

                  Here is the proposal:

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

REQUEST FOR INTERIM STUDY PROPOSAL

DATE:   6/26/2025

BY REPRESENTATIVE(S):          

Rep. Rob Hall 

TOPIC OF THE PROPOSAL:

 Impact of Food Safety Laws and Regulations on a Healthy Food Supply

EXPLANATORY COMMENTS ON THE SCOPE OF THE STUDY PROPOSAL:

We have a health crisis in our state.  The rates of chronic diseases such as obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and cancer are at all-time highs and still rising.  One of the root causes of our health crisis is unhealthy food. One of the root causes of unhealthy food is a food safety paradigm that focuses solely on preventing foodborne illness, which incentivizes highly processed and preservative-laden foods, which leads to an increase in chronic diseases.

This study will make the case for a new food safety paradigm with a dual mandate: 1) Managing the acute risks of foodborne illness & 2) Managing the chronic risks of obesity, diabetes, heart disease, cancer, and other diseases and disorders.  This dual mandate would ensure more natural, healthful food offerings are not preemptively excluded from the marketplace because of misguided food safety laws and regulations.

This study will explore legislative and regulatory changes that would make sense under this dual mandate.  The ultimate goal is a more healthy, happy, and free society where citizens can balance both the acute and chronic risks of their food as they see fit.  Proposal 25-087. 

Folks, this is the kind of thoughtful stuff we need to be encouraging.  He makes a great point that cigarettes are sterile, but not safe.  We have lots of sterile foods that the current one-sided system views as safe, but they are extremely dangerous.  As he says, Oreo cookies are considered safe but raw milk isn't.  He and I agree that an Oreo is a more unsafe food than raw milk. I think lots of folks would concur.

                  What are your top 3 sterile foods that are unsafe?