The Korea Times has published an editorial about the sad state of Korean food regulatory agencies and all the harmful products they are allowing consumers to make uninformed purchases for — both imported and domestic.
Why?
Rep. Chang, a member of the Health and Welfare Committee at the National Assembly, said the KFDA enforces many non-binding recommended guidelines, under which the regulator cannot take any legal action to impose a ban on the production, import, or sale of hazardous products. In many cases, the KFDA instructed producers and distributors of harmful food items to voluntarily recall their products.
And all those Chicago school economic libertarians are stumped that the magical invisible hand of the market isn’t taking care of this. I always hear the argument, “It’s in everyone’s best interest for businesses to regulate themselves because, in the long run, safe quality products are in their best self interest.”
So it doesn’t surprise anyone who doesn’t buy into the religion of the invisible hand that “most makers and sellers have not complied with such a voluntary recall.”
It’s also in a cancer’s best interest to keep the body alive so it can continue to survive itself. Yet does cancer think much farther than its immediate gratification?