The state of California receives the July 2018 BAN Award for being a pioneer in the limiting of consumer freedom and choice, from the banning of plastic bags to foie gras to the Prop 65 requirements that slapped cancer warning labels on coffee. The Consumer Choice Center’s Deputy Director Yaël Ossowski remarked that California is unique in how it has been able to advance the nanny state.
“More than almost any other state in the union, California holds its own as a top restrictor of consumer choice,” said Ossowski.
“When we look at the expansiveness of the Proposition 65 regulations that have mandated cancer warnings on coffee cups, plus the statewide ban on plastic bags, the politicians and government officials have made it clear that they do not trust consumers and citizens to make their own decisions.
“By awarding California with the tongue-in-cheek BAN Award we want to highlight how much the plastic bans and Prop 65 cancer warning labels are an infringement on consumer choice.”
About the BAN Award:
Every month the Consumer Choice Center awards an institution, person, or organization with the Bureau of Nannyism or short BAN Award. The BAN Awards recognize the work of an individual or organization that has made major contributions to advocating limits on consumer choice. This award serves to recognize extraordinary abilities in disregarding consumers and evidence-based public policy. The award was created by the Consumer Choice Center to draw attention to the important role politicians, lobbies, and advocates play in limiting consumers’ choice and ignoring them in the policymaking process.
Selection criteria: The Bureau of Nannyism (BAN) is a group of consumer choice advocates that discuss nominations on a monthly base and award the nominee with the most innovative or most blunt actions against consumer choice with the BAN award.
The CCC represents consumers in over 100 countries across the globe. We closely monitor regulatory trends in Ottawa, Washington, Brussels, Geneva and other hotspots of regulation and inform and activate consumers to fight for #ConsumerChoice. Learn more at consumerchoicecenter.org