A kinder, gentler junk food industry… Folks, there's only one reason that the big consumables makers - be they drug, tobacco, or food companies - ever change their marketing or production practices… Money: Either to make more of it or to protect the mounds of it they already have. Case in point: The junk food industry is currently attempting to re-invent itself as healthier and more body- and heart-friendly. This is partly because of new regulations -things like nutrition labeling and disclosure rules for fat content and other things. (By the way, this is one of the very few instances in which I support government regulation. We should all know at a glance what's in our foods, don't you think?) One other major reason is simple capitalism. People are more health-conscious these days - though misguidedly so, because they shun meat and fat - so food producers modify their products (a little) and marketing (a lot) to more closely match what people want. A perfect example of this is the success the Subway sandwich franchise has had with its "Subway diet" campaign (Subway diet - how absurd!). They've been making the same sandwiches the same way for decades, but they toss in a few low-cal "special sauces," find some formerly fat guy to endorse them and voila - a mega-successful retooling to a healthier image! The last reason for this shift is a DEFENSIVE one, in my opinion: Companies are afraid of being sued. They've seen how the tobacco companies have been shanghaied by the states and their lawyers, and they know these same vultures are eyeing them up like fresh road-kill. What other reason could there possibly be for companies like Frito-lay, Kraft and Nestle to remove trans-fats and other things from their products? They couldn't possibly believe that people look at Oreos, Doritos, Crunch bars, and the like and think:
"Too bad there's partially hydrogenated vegetable oil (or whatever) in there - otherwise these foods would be good for me!" The bottom line is this: Everyone already knows the difference between junk food and healthy foods. It's just plain common sense. If manufacturers change the ingredients slightly to make these foods marginally healthier, it's just going to open the door for some slimy lawyer to be able to say: "AHA! You knew all along that (insert snack food of choice here) was a killer - yet you hid the studies! You buried the bodies! It's a CONSPIRACY!" Let me be clear on this. I'm all for knowing what's in our foods - bravo to the Feds for that. But I'm also all for personal accountability - not making careers out of litigious victim-hood, be it from tobacco products, fatty foods, or whatever… In other words - what we put into our bodies is OUR OWN responsibility. If we want to punish the junk-food makers, we should STOP BUYING AND EATING THEIR PRODUCTS. That'll send a clearer message than any lawsuit ever could. ******************
The lawsuit as public awareness campaign… Did I call it or did I call it? Back in June, I told you about the California lawyer who was suing the makers of Oreo cookies (Kraft foods) because they contain harmful trans-fats (Daily Dose, 6/17)… In that article, I wondered why this "health Nazi" was singling out the Oreo when lots of foods contain trans-fats ("healthy" margarine is SOLID trans-fat)? The answer, I supposed at the time, was that an attack against this American classic cookie would draw way more press than a lawsuit against any of the thousands of other foods loaded with killer trans-fats… And I was exactly right! Turns out that the whole purpose of that absurd bastardization of our legal system was apparently to simply raise awareness of trans-fats - not to extract (extort) monetary damages from Kraft foods! According to a Reuters online article, if it can be shown that the attorney who brought the frivolous suit did so solely for publicity reasons, he could face sanctions. Ooh, sanctions! A fate worse than death! Seeing as how this little courtroom drama is unfolding in soy-swilling, tofu-loving California, I doubt whatever "sanction" the state Bar Association lays on him will amount to more than a slap on the wrist. This will only encourage every other left-coast kook with a cause to file suit in the name of whatever tempts him… Let me be clear, here - I'm no fan of trans-fats. They are indeed killers. But what people put in their mouths is their OWN RESPONSIBILITY. Suing a junk-food maker for not making a healthier cookie is like suing tobacco companies for not making a healthier cigarette… Oh, wait a minute - they've already done that. Fighting junk food the RIGHT way, not the left's,
William Campbell Douglass II, MD
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