Food industry changes
Jul. 2nd, 2003 10:05 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
magidSo, Kraft has plans to reduce fats and sugar from its products. The article makes it sound like Kraft is doing this preemptively, lest it get slapped with lawsuits like the tobacco industry, or the recent one where someone sued McDonald's for causing per's kids to be fat (Hello? Personal responsibility? Anyone?).
Part of this push for healthier foods is also that there will be less marketing in the schools, and fewer ads targeting kids (though that seems pretty fuzzy to me, in that kids are still likely to see ads not specifically targeted to them and find whichever products appealing). Both of these seem reasonable.
What I find astonishing is that only one sentence in the entire article points out that reducing obesity is not going to happen just because the company reformulates its products: there's that little issue of consumer choice, consumer responsibility. Having more reduced fat and low sugar foods might make it easier for some people to lose weight (I'm not particularly convinced about that, either. Just look at all the low-fat foods that have gobs of sugar in them, or the studies that show people eat to compensate for the "good" foods they eat), but in the end, it comes down to people choosing foods that are healthier. That might mean more information about nutrition, for some, or a revamping of the food pyramid, or subsidies for nutritional counseling, or discounts on gyms, etc. In other words, approaches that convince people they should change their habits (not an easy thing, by any means), rather than a parental switching of foods for different versions of the same.
Also, nowhere in the article does it address the issue of affording healthy food: so much junk food is cheaper than more healthful alternatives (and that's not even considering things like organic produce). Somehow Kraft making reduced fat Chee-tos does not inspire me with a vision of a new, healthier population.
(And this doesn't address my opinion that making food, rather than buying processed food, is not only healthier, but a social glue as well. And that, whatever foods I don't buy, I'd rather not have any food demonized; no one thing or category of things is always bad or always good. It depends on the person, and moderation, etc.)
Part of this push for healthier foods is also that there will be less marketing in the schools, and fewer ads targeting kids (though that seems pretty fuzzy to me, in that kids are still likely to see ads not specifically targeted to them and find whichever products appealing). Both of these seem reasonable.
What I find astonishing is that only one sentence in the entire article points out that reducing obesity is not going to happen just because the company reformulates its products: there's that little issue of consumer choice, consumer responsibility. Having more reduced fat and low sugar foods might make it easier for some people to lose weight (I'm not particularly convinced about that, either. Just look at all the low-fat foods that have gobs of sugar in them, or the studies that show people eat to compensate for the "good" foods they eat), but in the end, it comes down to people choosing foods that are healthier. That might mean more information about nutrition, for some, or a revamping of the food pyramid, or subsidies for nutritional counseling, or discounts on gyms, etc. In other words, approaches that convince people they should change their habits (not an easy thing, by any means), rather than a parental switching of foods for different versions of the same.
Also, nowhere in the article does it address the issue of affording healthy food: so much junk food is cheaper than more healthful alternatives (and that's not even considering things like organic produce). Somehow Kraft making reduced fat Chee-tos does not inspire me with a vision of a new, healthier population.
(And this doesn't address my opinion that making food, rather than buying processed food, is not only healthier, but a social glue as well. And that, whatever foods I don't buy, I'd rather not have any food demonized; no one thing or category of things is always bad or always good. It depends on the person, and moderation, etc.)