To what extent are companies such as McDonald's responsible for growing obesity-related health problems?
The World Health Organization projects that in the year 2005, approximately 1.6 billion adults (People over the age of fifteen) were overweight worldwide (World Health Organization, 2006). Compare this to the WHO’s claim that 800 million people go to bed hungry every day (WHO Millennium Development Goals, 2006) and it would seem that, perhaps uniquely in Human history, excess of food poses a more widespread health concern than a lack. This information results in some incredulity; under what circumstances could it be bad when there are more people on Earth who have too much than those who have too little? The immediate answer might be one of social justice, yet one of the main thrusts is to blame companies such as McDonald’s and Coca-cola for providing the means for people to be overweight. This essay will examine the actions of such companies in facilitating overeating, the implications of doing so, and will conclude the degree of blame they hold.
Being overweight or obese can lead to an increased chance of a significant number of health problems. Not least of these are Type 2 Diabetes, coronary heart disease, and osteoarthritis (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2006). This obviously puts a significant burden on healthcare, especially in nations where it is provided freely. This has led to great concern about the current growth in overweight and obese people, as it has economic ramifications as well as the effects on the individual. The younger generation is especially scrutinised and the BBC reported in 2005 that almost 25% of EU children were obese (BBC News, 20/01/2005). The American activist and Presidential candidate Ralph Nader has equated McDonald’s double cheeseburgers to “a weapon of mass destruction” (THOMAS (Library of Congress), 2005).
The concerns about these companies’ treatment of their workers, overseas producers, safety records, and so forth must not interfere with the question of how much blame they bear for this rise in ill health. If there are cases to be answered there, they will have to be addressed in other treatises. It is clear that many already consider such companies to be a source of the health problem and that this ties in with various other groups, such as environmentalism and anti-corporatism, but these arguments must be kept distinct.
McDonald’s has recently decided to include health information directly on the packaging of the products they sell (BBC News, 25/10/2005). This, it is claimed, will help the consumer make informed choices, as well as adding to the information provided by leaflets and internet sites. They have also recently been adding items such as salads and fruit to their menus, a further effort to show they have healthy options. Morgan Spurlock’s Super Size Me (2004) involved an experiment whereby only McDonald’s would be consumed for one month, involving everything on the menu at least once, and always ‘supersizing’ the meal if it was offered as an option. The resulting deterioration in health led to shock among doctors, who predicted much lesser ill effects, a weight gain and BMI increase which reportedly took months to undo, and has since been held up as a prime example of the ill effects of fast food in general, and McDonald’s in particular.
Yet opposing productions have arisen showing a different result. Foremost of these is Merab Morgan, a resident of North Carolina, who undertook a 90-day long McDonald’s only diet, but was careful with her caloric intake, resulting in an eventual weight loss. (MSNBC, 12/8/2005) Other, similar cases exist, whereby citizens have eaten exclusively at McDonald’s for a significantly length of time but have, through more measured eating than Spurlock exhibited, ended up in equal if not better health.
This provokes one of the most important aspects of this debate, namely the access to information by consumers of these eateries. It is reasonable to presume McDonald’s can be part of a healthy diet and lifestyle, but it is necessary for citizens to have proper access to information about the products and thereby have the capacity to make informed decisions. McDonald’s aforementioned policy of implementing nutritional information on the product packaging directly, as opposed to in-store leaflets or on the internet, allows customers to see exactly what they are eating. Presumably, however, they must purchase the product at least once to access it in this manner.
The effects of advertising are another area of major concern for those worried about fast food. Eric Schlosser makes the case that advertising to young children starts at the age of two or three, and that vast resources are deployed to sell various products, either directly to children and teenagers, or through causing the children to influence their parents. Schlosser’s Fast Food Nation (2002, p. 46) highlights attempts by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to prevent advertising directed at very young children. He quotes then-head of the FTC, Michael Pertschuk, who says “They cannot protect themselves against adults who exploit their present-mindedness.” and argues that very young children are incapable of discerning between ordinary television and advertising. This motion was not carried through, thanks to lobbying by various industry groups, and today advertising to children is alive and well in the United States. Similar attempts to legislate against as much are coming to the fore in European nations, and Sweden in 1991 banned all advertising directed at under-12s. This has since been weakened by the European Court of Justice, who found that whilst Sweden may regulate their own advertisers they cannot do anything about channels which come in from overseas.
The commonest theme in rejecting these arguments is a very simple, yet powerful one. Those who reject blaming fast food companies point out that people are not in any way forced to consume their products, and have plenty of available other food sources. In an open, free market, with not just many fast food outlets but literally hundreds of sources of food open to an individual, it is contested that said individuals are entirely responsible for their own eating habits and the consequences thereof. Indeed, in the United States the Personal Responsibility in Food Consumption Act, or “Cheeseburger Bill”, has been specifically created to defend companies against what are seen as frivolous or malicious lawsuits, brought by obese people who blame McDonald’s or Hardee’s rather than accepting responsibility for their own actions. The bill passed into law with a majority of almost 2:1. (BBC News, 12/03/2004)
Another example of legal movement in the matter is the case of Caesar Barber, a man from the Bronx who ate fast food several times a week for some years. He brought a case naming McDonald’s, Wendy’s, Burger King, and Kentucky Fried Chicken as defendants, claiming that he believed their food was healthy, until he was told otherwise by a doctor (although not until suffering his second heart attack; perhaps the competence of his medical professionals is in more question.), and that the industry “has wrecked my life”. (CBS News, 26/07/2002) The case later appeared to dissipate, and did not go to court.
Another common counterargument is that there are many more factors than simple dietary habits in determining someone’s weight. Some of these factors include genetic predisposition, a sedentary lifestyle, and various other medical conditions and medications. It appears trite to say there is any single factor responsible for all, or even the majority, of obesity and thus it appears invalid to suggest any one factor, let alone a single facilitator of that factor, could be held accountable for the situation.
To bring this to a conclusion, the argument ultimately focuses on two issues. The first is one of personal responsibility, and the second is whether or not consumers are given the necessary information to reasonably implement the first. Although more and more fast food outlets are offering healthier options and better access to information, the number of overweight people is rising. The most viable conclusion to draw is that there are numerous other factors to consider in the causes of obesity. Nevertheless if that were not the case, if diet were the sole consideration, it remains the situation that consumers have the information they need from a number of sources, not least of which are the various groups and individuals concerned about the issue, and they have the freedom of choice in not just which menu items they choose, but in which menu they are looking at. No known cases exist of forced consumption at a fast food outlet. Perhaps the matter can best be concluded with the following statement by Richard Berman, executive director of the Center for Consumer Freedom (29/9/2006),
“Maybe the radical solution is to let consumers - not bureaucrats - dictate what restaurants do. After all, you know what they call a restaurant that doesn't believe that the customer is always right? Bankrupt.”
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