IMHO the FDA's power should be limited strictly to providing information to the general public; letting them decide for themselves what is safe or not safe; what they will or will not consume.
As for the case of aspartame: It may or may not be a neurotoxin that kills brain cells, I don't care. If I want to drink a diet soda and not drink sugar, then it is my right. It is not the governments right to "ban" or "allow" such substances. I drop LSD for fuck's sake, I'm sure that's great for brain cells. I still do it, and I wish I had the legal right to choose whether or not to partake instead of doing it illegally when I choose to do so. If I want to buy expired milk, then it is (well, isn't, but should be) my right. If I want to dabble in unsafe practices, then I should be allowed to do so, not forced by the hand of Big Brother to comply. I support the FDA as an information-only institution, not as an all powerful being in the sky.
As for the baby food example by Gilbran2: If a corporation was poisoning baby food, causing deaths, there is little doubt that they would soon be out of business. Killing babies isn't good for business. In fact they (rather, the parents of) are the very customer base from which they obtain profit. A dead baby can't drink formula, nor can their parents buy it. Plus, there would be a media frenzy declaring the product unsafe / death causing. This is self regulation.
Did anyone read the part about being reported to the department of homeland security for violating import laws of unsafe food products? Does this mean that I can be reported for ordering 112 grams of syrian rue from the Netherlands? Who decides? The government? I don't trust them.
Here is an example for ya pertaining to the bill: Suppose I want to grow a pumpkin patch in my back yard to raise a little extra Christmas money. Say, for instance, I grow 500 pumpkins. The bill is open to too much interpretation on this. Who decides whether this is large scale or small scale? Who decides whether or not I have to implement expensive safety precautions? The government? Am I going to have to apply for, and pay expensive license fees? Who decides? The government? Am I going to be banned from doing this or risk SWAT raids if I don't comply? This is silly. The government is overstepping their bounds by simply PROPOSING this bill and many similar to it. Let alone passing it.
Every regulation takes another one of your rights away. There will, IMHO, come a point when we will decide that we don't want the government to "keep us safe" anymore, we just want our rights back. Hopefully, by that time it isn't too late.
Love, peace and hair grease.
With a bit of luck, his life was ruined forever. Always thinking that just behind some narrow door in all of his favorite bars, men in red woolen shirts are getting incredible kicks from things he'll never know. - Hunter S. Thompson