Chutzpah Award: McDonald’s Balanced Lifestyles

In its latest attempt to spin itself as a responsible corporate citizen, this time with U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Tommy Thompson at its side, McDonald’s announced last month, “an unprecedented, comprehensive balanced lifestyles platform to help address obesity in America and improve the nation's overall physical well-being.” Sounds good, but what does it mean?

While major news outlets reported the company’s new “Go Active! Adult Happy Meal,” which includes a salad, water and a pedometer, this was actually just one of numerous “highlights” listed in a lengthy press release. Other promises include providing nutrition information on Happy Meals in parent-approved and child-friendly ways and volunteering to take an industry-leading role to respond to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to determine the best way to communicate nutrition information to consumers. (Do we really want the folks who invented the Big Mac volunteering for this job?) And once again proving itself as the master of disguising marketing as philanthropy, the company boasts how it “has already reallocated a significant amount of children's retail marketing messaging to programming that positively impacts parents and children in the areas of health, education and development,” pointing to its underwriting of Sesame Street as a prime example.

Michael Roberts, president of McDonald's USA explains: "We want to help adults achieve the right balance between their daily calorie intake and physical activity, and to help children adopt active, balanced lifestyle habits early on." How nice. Let’s see if this announcement amounts to anything more than a PR move designed to prevent unfavorable government regulations. Judging by the ringing endorsement from the nation’s top health official, the tactic seems to have already paid off.

Source: McDonald’s Press Release, 04/15/04
http://www.mcdonalds.com/usa/news/current/conpr_04152004.html

Those who object to comparisons of junk food with tobacco are quick to point out that smoking tobacco is addictive, while as far as we know, eating junk food is not. That may no longer be true. A recent study involving brain scans showed that when people saw and smelled their favorite foods, their brains lit up in a manner similar to reactions seen in cocaine addicts. When subjects were presented with foods such as cheeseburgers, pizza, fried chicken, ice cream, and chocolate cake, brain metabolism increased significantly in those areas of the brain known to be associated with addiction.

"These results could explain the deleterious effects of constant exposure to food stimuli, such as advertising, candy machines, food channels, and food displays in stores," said Dr. Gene-Jack Wang, of Brookhaven National Laboratory, who led the study. He added: "The high sensitivity of this brain region to food stimuli, coupled with the huge number and variety of these stimuli in the environment, likely contributes to the obesity epidemic."

Meanwhile, officials at the Food and Drug Administration are considering placing warning labels on packages of unhealthy foods. According to an interview in the Boston Globe, the acting commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, Lester M. Crawford, said that food labels could be transformed ''from providing information into providing warnings." The bold idea is still only under discussion among high-level government officials. Any warning label on food would be less harsh than those on cigarette packs. ''We could consider saying, 'If you indulge in this, there may be health consequences,"' Crawford said.

Any such effort could take years to enact, especially given the loud opposition the idea is likely to garner from industry. But someday, we may find out that warning labels on food are just about as effective as they are on cigarettes.

Sources: Reuters, 04/20/04
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=594&ncid=594&e=2&u=/nm/2
0040420/hl_nm/science_cravings_dc
Boston Globe, 04/23/04
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2004/04/23/food_warning_labels_on
_fdas_plate/

Update: Anti-Obesity Lawsuit Legislation

The National Restaurant Association continues its effort of going state by state to lobby for legislation that would ban health-related lawsuits against the food industry. While the federal version, the so-called “Cheeseburger bill,” awaits consideration in the Senate after having passed the House in March, Big Food’s lobby is gaining ground in some states, while facing setbacks in others. To date, 25 states have introduced such bills, with seven having been enacted, and five awaiting a governor’s signature. Here in California, the bill was defeated by a 6-3 vote of the Assembly Judiciary Committee. Testifying in opposition were CIFC’s Michele Simon, Harold Goldstein of the California Center for Public Health Advocacy, and representatives from Consumer Attorneys of California. While we were outnumbered by the bill’s proponents from the food industry, enough committee members showed the courage to vote no. Let’s hope the U.S. Senate and other states can also withstand industry pressure.

Source: National Restaurant Association Website
http://www.restaurant.org/government/state/nutrition/
 

  Fighting Back: Legal Strategies and Other Good News

Healthier Foods in School Vending Machines

Several more school districts have joined the growing movement to ban junk food sold in school vending machines, giving energy to state and national efforts. By next fall, vending machines in all New Haven, Connecticut schools are to be stripped of junk food. Soda will be replaced by water, juice and milk, while baked chips will replace fried, and granola will replace cookies. Meanwhile, a bill is pending in the Connecticut legislature that would require all schools to offer healthier items such as juices, water, and dried fruit, and ensure a 20-minute recess.

In Chicago, the nation's third-largest public school district plans to ban soft drinks, candy, and fat-laden snacks from school vending machines, replacing them with healthier offerings by next fall. The Chicago district said it is seeking proposals to replace its exclusive and expiring beverage contract with Coca-Cola with offerings restricted to 100 percent fruit juices in elementary schools and at least 50 percent fruit juice in high schools. Snacks in school vending machines must have no more than 30 percent of their calories from fat and no more than 40 percent sugar by weight. Candy and chewing gum would be banned outright. On the state level last month, Colorado passed a law to require school vending machines to provide more nutritious selections by 2006.

All this effort comes not a moment too soon, as the Center for Science in the Public Interest just last week released the results of a nationwide survey of 1,420 vending machines in 251 middle schools and high schools. Not surprisingly, their study showed that 75 percent of the drinks and 85 percent of the snacks sold are of poor nutritional value. To address the problem on a national level, Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) and Representative Lynn Woolsey (D-CA) have each introduced legislation that would give the USDA the authority to set nutrition standards on foods sold outside of the National School Lunch Program.

Sources: Reuters, 04/20/04
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=4885022
KOAA.com, 04/22/04
http://www.koaa.com/news/view.asp?ID=2142
Associated Press, 05/03/04
http://www.cnn.com/2004/EDUCATION/05/03/junkfree.schools.ap/
Center for Science in the Public Interest Press Release, 05/11/04
http://www.cspinet.org/new/200405111.html

Pennsylvania to Fund Grocery Stores

Lawmakers in the state of Pennsylvania have announced a $100 million plan to bring healthy food to underserved areas statewide. Over the next five years, ten supermarkets could be opened in Philadelphia alone. "We are looking at the impact on the health of individuals," State Rep. Dwight Evans said, noting a shortage of markets with wholesome food—a problem that contributes to health problems such as obesity, diabetes, and high blood pressure.

Hannah Burton, program coordinator for the Food Trust, a Philadelphia-based nonprofit organization working to increase access to nutritious food in low-income areas, said supermarkets are a key to a community's health: "When a new supermarket comes in, it improves diets because people are able to purchase nutritious foods at lower prices." State Rep. Frank Oliver, a sponsor of legislation for the plan, said, "In my 30 years in Harrisburg, this is the most important legislation that I have introduced." May that message be inspiration to lawmakers everywhere!

Source: Philadelphia Inquirer, 05/05/04
http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/news/local/8589922.htm?1c

Editorial

With two-thirds of Americans now either obese or overweight, including 15 percent of children—a figure that has doubled in the past 25 years—you might expect the U.S. government to support international efforts to promote healthier eating. But, just like it tried to derail the World Health Organization's (WHO) attempts to control tobacco worldwide, the United States, along with the powerful food industry, is trying to thwart the efforts of the U.N. agency to make even the most common sense recommendations on diet.

Full Article:
http://news.pacificnews.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=24ed5886ae556fdf4d
1328c5c2587875

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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