At first glance, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s two-year legal assault on Estrella Family Creamery in Washington state appears entirely vindictive.
The FDA seems intent on using its enormous enforcement powers to cruelly stomp on and obliterate a tiny business that serves as the livelihood of the Estrella family, and a source of eating pleasure and important nutrition for a community of hundreds of devoted customers.
As a prime example, the agency’s latest legal action in federal district court in Washington state rejects efforts by the Estrellas to negotiate a compromise that would allow the agency to continue monitoring the company, and seeks instead an ongoing investigation process that would not only be onerous to Kelli and Anthony Estrella, but require the Estrellas to pay many thousands of dollars to support.
As I said, if this was all that was going on, it would be shameful enough. But there is more. The FDA is suggesting in the Estrella case that it has the authority to not only regulate food involved in “interstate commerce,” but to regulate operations engaged entirely in local food production and distribution&#... Read more
