Comment from Alexander Poptodorov
AnonymousSupportIndividual
Summary: David A. Kessler expresses strong support for the petition to limit industrial refined carbohydrates in processed foods to combat metabolic diseases like obesity and type 2 diabetes. He argues that the FDA should establish quantitative limits, mandate clearer labeling of glycemic load, and restrict marketing to children for high-carbohydrate products.
Strong Support for Petition FDA-2025-P-3071: Limiting Industrial Refined Carbohydrates to Prevent Metabolic Disease
I fully support this petition requesting the FDA to limit the exposure of refined carbohydrates used in industrial food processing.
The current American diet is dominated by highly refined carbohydrates — stripped of fiber, micronutrients, and structural integrity — that rapidly convert to glucose and overwhelm the body’s insulin response. This petition correctly identifies the role of these ingredients in driving the epidemics of obesity, type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular disease.
For over half a century, the food industry has optimized for shelf life and palatability rather than metabolic health. Refined flours, syrups, and starches are added to nearly every packaged product, often under misleading labeling terms that obscure their glycemic impact. These formulations hijack normal satiety signaling, leading to chronic overconsumption and early metabolic dysfunction in children.
The FDA has acted before to protect the public when industrial ingredients were proven harmful — trans fats being the most obvious example. Refined carbohydrate additives are no different in their metabolic consequences and warrant similar regulatory oversight. It is both scientifically and ethically indefensible to allow unlimited inclusion of these substances in the nation’s food supply when their long-term effects are so clearly linked to disease.
I urge the FDA to:
Establish quantitative limits for refined carbohydrate additives in processed foods.
Mandate clear labeling of total refined carbohydrate content and glycemic load.
Restrict marketing to children of foods exceeding these limits.
Incentivize reformulation toward whole-food-based carbohydrate sources.
This petition is a necessary step toward realigning our national food policy with public health rather than corporate interest. Americans deserve a regulatory system that reflects the best current evidence on nutrition and chronic disease prevention — not one that perpetuates metabolic dysfunction through inaction.