Cheese Critic - Hard Question - Experts, please comment.

[ice_rush]

Cheese Critic: Current U.S. Food and Drug Administration regulations prohibit importing cheese made from raw (unpasteurized) milk. But in France, where most cheese is made from raw milk, the rate of cheese-related, food-borne illness suffered by the citizenry is actually lower than that of the United States. The FDA should therefore lift its restrictions on importing unpasteurized cheese.

Which one of the following principles, if valid, most helps to support Cheese Critic's argument?

(A) Food regulations should exist only to protect the health of consumers.
(B) A country's policies should not be influenced by the policies of other countries.
(C) All cheese should be made from unpasteurized milk.
(D) Public health concerns should not interfere with free trade except in extreme circumstances.
(E) It should be left to consumers to decide what products to purchase.

[sam2304]

Mixed between B and D. What is the OA ?

[killer1387]

Cheese Critic:
Current U.S. Food and Drug Administration regulations prohibit importing cheese made from raw (unpasteurized) milk.--> talked of regulation

But in France, where most cheese is made from raw milk, the rate of cheese-related, food-borne illness suffered by the citizenry is actually lower than that of the United States.
--> talked of illness

The FDA should therefore lift its restrictions on importing unpasteurized cheese.
--> conclusion

so the answer supporting the critic should actually link regulations and health

Which one of the following principles, if valid, most helps to support Cheese Critic's argument?

(A) Food regulations should exist only to protect the health of consumers.
--> required link

Hence A.
OA??

[ice_rush]

the OA is A, but maybe I need an expert to explain this in more detail

[chris@magoosh]

Let's start by taking the argument apart .

Fact: The FDA prohibits importing raw milk cheese
Fact: France eats raw milk cheese and has lower rate of food-borne disease
Conclusion:Therefore FDA should lift restrictions on raw milk cheese

The question is asking us which principle makes the argument VALID.

(A) Food regulations should exist only to protect the health of consumers. ANSWER

According to the critic the FDA should lift the ban on raw milk based on the fact that raw milk cheese does not pose a public health risk. There of course could be a variety of reasons beyond public health for the FDA's ban. (A) provides a principle that would no longer consider these other possible reasons for the ban.

Essentially (A) is saying that the only principle that should guide the FDA's decision whether to ban something is if that product is healthy or not. If the FDA's only goal is to protect the health of consumers, then the critic's argument stands: allow raw milk cheese because it does not pose a public health risk.

(B) A country's policies should not be influenced by the policies of other countries.

We are not concerned with France's policy so much as we are with the fact that raw milk cheese consumption in France does not seem to be a problem from a public health angle.

(C) All cheese should be made from unpasteurized milk.

This is a bit too extreme.

(D) Public health concerns should not interfere with free trade except in extreme circumstances.

The cheese critic is focusing on public health concerns. Indeed he is building is entire argument on the fact that the French eat raw milk cheese and have a lower incidence of food-borne diseases

(E) It should be left to consumers to decide what products to purchase

This is way too broad and doesn't relate to the specifics of the argument.

Hope that helps .

[Gaurav 2013-fall]

I am with A too.