Ah, so you pose it as selecting the lesser of two evils, regulation constricted choice, or capitalism fuelled artificial choice? Option A burns political capital to enforce, option B externalises the costs to consumers.
I think the real solution is to address the root of the problem, which is that people (in aggregate) are not making informed decisions. We need to reduce the time/effort required to evaluate the options. It seems like the information age is already moving us in the right direction -- internet searching with your smartphone is quite easy and you can do it on the spot. But we're also moving backwards due to the excessive number of choices; searching >=20 toothpastes is still too daunting, and there is the issue of artificial reviews posted by toothpaste sellers.
Additional regulation could be the answer if it helps customers compare products. We have nutritional information panels on food products, they are always the same format and are easy to compare. Medicinal products have the active ingredients and concentrations listed so you can compare.
An option is to verify the product claims and include those in a standard format like the nutritional panel. Vaguely positive statements like "supports a healthy lifestyle" wouldn't make it in, but solid statements like "kills >99% bacteria" would after it's been verified.
I think the real solution is to address the root of the problem, which is that people (in aggregate) are not making informed decisions. We need to reduce the time/effort required to evaluate the options. It seems like the information age is already moving us in the right direction -- internet searching with your smartphone is quite easy and you can do it on the spot. But we're also moving backwards due to the excessive number of choices; searching >=20 toothpastes is still too daunting, and there is the issue of artificial reviews posted by toothpaste sellers.
Additional regulation could be the answer if it helps customers compare products. We have nutritional information panels on food products, they are always the same format and are easy to compare. Medicinal products have the active ingredients and concentrations listed so you can compare.
An option is to verify the product claims and include those in a standard format like the nutritional panel. Vaguely positive statements like "supports a healthy lifestyle" wouldn't make it in, but solid statements like "kills >99% bacteria" would after it's been verified.