Several stories struck us this month as fitting the theme of the “McDonaldization” of the world. It’s no secret that American fast food companies, having saturated markets here, are spreading to foreign lands. Now, KFC, already with 1,000 outlets in China is setting its sights on Tibet. This year, parent company, Yum Brands (which also owns Taco Bell and Pizza Hut) plans to open hundreds of KFC outlets in Tibet and to expand Taco Bell franchises in China. According to Yum representative, Samuel Su, "Our experience has shown that when we get into cities, the people are so excited that KFC has finally arrived that we attract very large crowds.”

Not be outdone, McDonald's—with just 570 restaurants in China—plans to open nearly 100 new outlets around the country this year and promote “McKIDS” products, including clothing, toys, video games, and books. The battle to win over Chinese tastes is on, with KFC introducing a Beijing-style chicken wrap last year, complete with spring onions and hoisen sauce. But Tim Lai, with McDonald's China Development Company, is not impressed: "Consumers do not go to McDonald's for Chinese-style food. Furthermore, McDonald's pays great efforts to conduct public welfare activities.” (Not sure what that means, but that’s what he said.)

Finally, Krispy Kreme Doughnuts opened its first store in Mexico last month, in Interlomas, a suburb of Mexico City. The company plans to open 20 stores around the country over the next six years. "Krispy Kreme's expansion into Mexico is an exciting and long-awaited event," said Scott Livengood, company chairman. "We've been honored by a tremendous reception in Mexico City, and we look forward to building new relationships with customers throughout the country." The store will include Krispy Kreme's doughnut-making theatre, allowing customers to see the doughnuts being made from start to finish.

It would be great if customers could also see the artery clogging process from start to finish. Too bad these developing countries don’t have the advanced medical technologies to handle the inevitable resulting chronic health problems. (See related story below.)

Sources: China Daily, 01/15/04
http://www1.chinadaily.com.cn/en/doc/2004-01/15/content_299176.htm
http://www1.chinadaily.com.cn/en/doc/2004-01/15/content_299083.htm
Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, Inc. Press Release, 01/20/04
http://ir.thomsonfn.com/InvestorRelations/PubNewsStory.aspx?partner=6012&storyId=101674

Politics of Global Obesity

Enter the Bush Administration, claiming that the WHO recommendations aren’t based on science, and calling for personal responsibility to solve the obesity epidemic. Sound familiar? That’s the food industry’s familiar refrain. As so eloquently stated by Kelly Brownell and Marion Nestle in their excellent New York Times op-ed piece: “When food industry executives or government officials complain about the lack of sound science, self-interest is generally at work…. By making its position on the WHO indistinguishable from that of the food industry, the Bush administration undermines the efforts of more forward-thinking food companies and threatens public health. Its action underscores the need for government to create a wall between itself and the food industry when establishing nutrition and public health policy.”

A fortress might be more like it, especially given Corporate America’s role in proliferating global obesity by exporting Big Macs, Coke, and Krispy Kreme.

Sources: New York Times, 01/23/04
Commercial Alert, Alternet, 01/26/04
http://www.alternet.org/print.html?StoryID=17649

As Obesity Rates Soar, So Do Costs

The United States spent $75 billion last year on medical expenses related to obesity, with California paying the most at $7.7 billion, according to a study published this month in the journal Obesity Research. Taxpayers paid half the bill through the government's Medicare and Medicaid health programs. The findings indicated obesity-related health problems accounted for 5.7 percent of the nation's total medical expenses. Researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and RTI International concluded that “policy makers should consider these estimates, along with other factors, in determining how best to allocate scarce public health resources.”

Sources:
http://www.obesityresearch.org/cgi/content/abstract/12/1/18
http://www.cdc.gov/od/oc/media/pressrel/r040121.htm

As our federal government is hard at work re-drawing the useless Food Guide Pyramid, the good folks at Frito-Lay have crafted their own entry. No folks, this is NOT a parody, it’s the real deal. But someone at Salty Snack Central must have lost a little sleep, because the image was only up on the company’s Web site for a short time. Still, you can read plenty of comedic corporate spin here http://www.fritolay.com/nutrition/transfatfree.shtml, where Frito-Lay proudly lists no fewer than 158 of its “trans fat free” products, including the likes of “LAY’S Chicago Steakhouse Loaded Baked Potato Flavored Potato Chips” and “SMARTFOOD Reduced Fat White Cheddar Cheese Flavored Popcorn.” Well, thank god they’re trans fat free!


 

Banning Junk Food in Schools

Washington State is becoming the latest battleground over school vending machines. The legislature there is considering a bill that would restrict junk food in school vending machines, or at least offer healthier foods alongside sugary sodas and candy bars. The bill proposes that a model nutrition policy be developed as a guideline for individual school districts. Last year, State Rep. Eileen Cody, a registered nurse and co-sponsor of the bill, encountered resistance from vending-machine and soft-drink lobbyists, and the bill died in committee. We wish her better luck this time around. Meanwhile, a ban on sugary sodas in Philadelphia schools takes effect this June and San Francisco schools have completed phasing in a bold new plan that may be the nation’s most comprehensive healthy-food policy: a “no empty calories” standard for all foods sold to students during school, kindergarten through 12th grade.

Sources: Seattle Times, 01/26/04
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2001843779_junkfood26m.html
Parents Advocating School Accountability Press Release, 02/04/04

Foreign Resistance to the Real Thing                            

While KFC and McDonald’s duke it out over Chinese customers, Coca-Cola is facing an unlikely enemy in India: the customers themselves. Last month, more than 500 protesters marched and rallied to condemn the soft drink giant's operations there. The protesters, including 150 residents who live in and around Coca-Cola’s bottling facilities, were joined by a large group of international supporters at the World Social Forum in Mumbai. Complaints from three Indian communities include severe water shortages as a result of Coca-Cola’s mining of groundwater resources and the company’s indiscriminate dumping of wastewater, resulting in the pollution of what little water is left over.

Tests of Coca-Cola products in the Indian market in September 2003 confirmed the presence of pesticides in the soft drinks, sometimes 30 times higher than those allowed by the European Union standards. The government of India has initiated an inquiry into the findings and has banned the sale of Coca-Cola and Pepsico products in cafeterias. The international campaign to hold Coca-Cola accountable is planning a series of events in the U.S. to force the company to clean up its act. Maybe they can join forces with American schools.

Source: McLibel Support Campaign Press Release, 01/19/04
http://www.mcspotlight.org/media/press/releases/msc190104.html

Take Away the Ads, Keep the Coke

First the good news: Coca-Cola plans to remove advertising for soft drinks from the front of all its 4,000 vending machines in secondary schools across Britain. The bad news? The 4,000 vending machines. Coca-Cola said the announcement means, for example, that large pictures of a can of Coke or Fanta will be replaced with panels showing children playing in a cartoon scene without any branding. Without blinking an eye, Ian Deste, the head of corporate affairs at Coca-Cola Enterprises said: "We share the view that classrooms should be a commercial-free area and clearly there is some conflict then with highly-visible, highly-branded machines.” However, he rejected talk of vending machines being banned from schools altogether. Of course he did; wouldn’t want to get too radical. Anyway, who needs the ads when they’ve already got the soda? Interesting that this story ran with the original headline, “Coca-Cola to end adverts in schools.” If this is all you read, it’s pretty misleading.

Source: Scotsman.com, 01/26/04
http://news.scotsman.com/uk.cfm?id=95072004

Real Reasons to be Mad about Beef

This article, written by Michele Simon and Richard Ganis, was released over the Ascribe newswire on January 22, 2004 and is available on the CIFC Web site at:
http://www.informedeating.org/docs/TheRealResonstobeMadaboutBeefWeb.htm.

Low Carb Means High Profits for Food Giants

This article, written by Michele Simon, was published in the San Francisco Chronicle on January 23, 2004 and is available on the CIFC Web site at: http://www.informedeating.org/docs/LowCarbopedasinChronicle.htm.

The Center for Informed Food Choices in a nonprofit organization that advocates for a whole foods, plant-based diet and educates about the politics of food.

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