Re: Are we protected from Junk Food Corporations?

From: DonQuijote1954 (nolionnoproblem_at_hotmail.com)
Date: 08/30/04 

Date: 30 Aug 2004 09:52:37 -0700

continues...
Some said here that junk food corporations don't mislead the public?

"For its part, the food industry claims that its products are not
directly linked to obesity and have pointed to Americans' lack of
exercise as a major factor contributing to our fatness."

Targeting Saturday Morning Fare

The purpose behind suing food companies would be both philosophical
and economic and resembles the logic of the tobacco litigation,
explains Banzhaf, who helped craft the tobacco lawsuits. "If there are
products the use of which cause large costs, grave costs, it is better
that the burden of those costs fall on people who use and make the
products rather than third parties or the general public," he said.

For some, it may be difficult to buy the argument that companies
should be blamed for what adults eat. For that reason, some health
experts suggest that a campaign against marketing junk food to
children would be more successful, just as the anti-smoking forces
went after Joe Camel ads.

Four out of five food ads market products attractive to kids, CSPI
says, such as sugary cereal, snack food, soft drinks and fast food.

For years, nutrition activists have attempted, unsuccessfully, to get
junk food ads off Saturday morning television, long the domain of
commercials featuring kid-friendly characters hawking sugary,
high-calorie foods.

Junk food in schools has also been the longtime bane of many nutrition
experts. Although school lunches must meet federal dietary standards,
vending machines and snack bars are not required to withstand
nutritional scrutiny and often bring multi-million dollar contracts
between corporations and school districts.

"Certainly, fast food is marketed overtly to children and my guess is
if you looked closely around the internal documents of the fast food
industry and processed food industry it would shock me if they didn't
have very sophisticated studies about their consumers," said Richard
Nagareda, Vanderbilt University Law School professor. "Whether you can
take that to the level of a successful lawsuit is not so clear."

Message from Government: 'Just Do It'

For its part, the food industry claims that its products are not
directly linked to obesity and have pointed to Americans' lack of
exercise as a major factor contributing to our fatness. Less than a
third of all Americans exercise as much as doctors advise.

The American Dietetic Association also stresses that a healthy diet
depends on variety, balance and moderation for all foods and
beverages, and does not recommend restricting specific foods or
ingredients for weight management.

Even surgeon general Satcher did not recommend policy changes aimed at
the food industry when he released his report last month, although he
told an interviewer: "That doesn't mean Congress can't read the report
and decide that we need it."

Instead, Satcher's report recommended that families, communities,
businesses, the health care system and the media all work together to
get America eating right and exercising. The official message from the
government: It is our responsibility to stay healthy and help others
to do so, too.

This message is especially pertinent in lower-income communities,
then, where it is most often easier to find a greasy burger and fries
than a fresh head of lettuce. According to the surgeon general, women
of lower socioeconomic status are about 50 percent more likely to be
obese than their better-off counterparts.

[And so poverty and lack of education do play a major role in having
no food choices and obesity.]

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