The Effort to Ban Skittles Is Part of a Larger Political Battle
“The most basic question is not what is best, but who shall decide what is best,” the bestselling economist Thomas Sowell has observed.
My 9-year-old son and his teammates often buy Skittles at wrestling tournaments. Their theory is that eating them before matches gives them energy — especially certain colored ones.
“The red ones make you kick a**,” one boy told me. (I told him that’s good but that he shouldn’t use that word.)
As it happens, Skittles has been in the news lately. Proposed legislation in California would ban the candy , which was first introduced in North America in 1979. At issue are several chemicals most people have never heard of — brominated vegetable oil, red dye No. 3, propylparaben, titanium dioxide, and potassium bromate — that critics allege are dangerous.
"Why are these toxic chemicals in our food?" asked health advocate Susan Little. "We know they are harmful and that children are likely eating more of these chemicals than adults.”
Candy companies said the claims have no merit, pointing out that none of the ingredients have been banned by the Food and Drug Administration…