Meat + Poultry - January 2004 - 68

FSI MEDIA WATCH

Fattening up on obesity

■

The demonization of the food
industry is well under way, something anti-"Big Food" lawyers need in
order to topple the biggest hurdle to
their once-laughable lawsuits.
The explosion of obesity-related
news and the tenor of many articles
have started to accomplish what Insight
magazine terms "the medicalization of
social issues." News reports have helped
to create a negative groundswell underneath eating particular foods.
Insight's June 2002 article by John Berlau quotes
noted anti-tobacco lawyer
John Banzhaf, saying that
the political and legal
framework for these types
of lawsuits was laid while
snuffing out the tobacco
industry. States, rather
than individuals, can make
claims that a certain lifestyle caused a costly problem. Obesity,
like tobacco, could use added healthcare
and insurance costs as the main weapon.
Then, all that is needed before these
lawsuits gain a pair of pudgy legs is for
enough consumers to agree that the
food industry is at fault.
The tactic isn't working ... yet. According to research documented in the
September 2003 Economist article "Big
business," "90 percent of American
consumers believe they are personally
accountable for their weight." Two
things are slimming that percentage: the
food industry's response to the issue and
the data used by those often-quoted
nutritionists/activists peppered into
every obesity-related article.
The food industry's response to the
outcry is a gut reaction that could prove
dangerous in a few years. McDonald's
probably thought it was heading the
right direction when it announced some
healthy menu changes in October 2003.
But in "McD's goes healthy in NY," a New
York Daily News article, the healthier
options shared news space with, among
others, Harvard nutrition department

16 FSI

FOOD SYSTEMS

ınsıder

head Walter Willett. "If they really want
to be good nutrition educators, they
should put warning labels on their french
fries," he said.
Pizza Hut cut 300 calories out of a
regular slice of pizza with a new program
announced last October.In the USA Today
story, a Colorado nutritionist offered this
response, "Maybe they should give a free
salad with every pizza."
In the September 2003 Yahoo News
Health report "Food giants mend their
ways to fight child obesity,"
University of North Carolina
professor Barry Popkin said
the food industry has to
"come to grips at the fact that
they have a role in this." He
added, "I believe the public
opinion will turn so much
against industry that the jury
will turn against them."
Berlau's article provides a
candid look inside the plans of antitobacco and anti-"Big Food" lawyers and
is a must-read for anyone involved in the
industry, especially those in the pork and
dairy industries, which Banzhaf lists as
probable near-future targets. Where will
it stop? "I'm not sure anybody at this time
can say," Banzhaf tells Berlau. Quoting
former Supreme Court Justice Benjamin
Cardozo, Banzhaf suggests the issue will
inevitably be worked out "in the great
laboratories of law that are our courts."
The court of public opinion is key in
these early stages, but not much is being
done to win that battle. The food industry has merely scoffed at the claims or put
forth a few weak campaigns resulting in,
at best, short-term public-relations
boosts. For the most part, the industry
has remained quiet, hoping it will go
away or hoping that public opinion remains on its side. More is necessary.
It's surprising that in a country battling obesity, there aren't more people
willing to speak on behalf of food. ■
By James Arnold
Food Systems Group

JANUARY 2004

Board of Advisers
The following advisory board
assists in keeping the Food Systems
Insider in line with its mission.

Charles Ahlem
Owner of Charles Ahlem Ranch
(1,700-cow, Grade A Jersey dairy)
and founder of Hilmar Cheese Co.
in Turlock, Calif.

Dr. Dell Allen
Vice president of Technical
Services and Food Safety
for Excel Corp.

Dr. Brad White
Beef production medicine
specialist, Mississippi State College
of Veterinary Medicine in
Mississippi State, Miss.

Dr. Dennis DiPietre
Financial adviser to Tosh Farms
(diversified swine and crop farm)
in Henry, Tenn., and
consultant to the pork industry

Jean Kinsey
Professor of Applied Economics
at the University of Minnesota
and director of
The Retail Food Industry Center

Dr. Daryl Olsen
Veterinarian for
Audubon-Manning Veterinary
Clinic Management Services

John Story
Meat consultant for retail
grocery industry with more than
40 years in the business

Warren Weibert
Owner of Decatur County
Feedyard in Oberlin, Kan.
■

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Meat + Poultry - January 2004

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