The Food Industry and an Unhealthy America
There’s been a growing trend to eat healthier in America. However, almost everyone consumes some fast food or processed food products. While there is more than one answer as to how we got this unhealthy, the companies in charge of our food are probably not as trustworthy as you think. By persuading public opinion, disregarding health concerns, and deceiving consumers, the corporations responsible for the food we eat have rigged the system in a way that is designed to force Americans to make unhealthy and uninformed choices.
While examining the impact food companies have on research, Marion Nestle, a nutrition scholar, found that out of 76 studies, over 90 percent of them were “favorable to the …show more content…
But in reality, it is completely legal for companies to list the Nutrition Facts of products within a 20 percent margin of the actual value of nutrients (Freuman). In this day of age when more people are health conscious and reading the label, having the actual nutritional content skewed by 20 percent can have big affects on the health of Americans in the long run. For example, a meal that is supposedly 500 calories could theoretically be 100 calories more! This level of deception should not even be permitted, and it is amazing to think that the FDA allows this big of a margin. Not only is the food industry deceiving Americans, it is putting the population’s health at risk for the sole purpose of making themselves look not as bad as they might be to sell their products. This is clearly unfair for the people who are actively searching for healthier foods. With some food items boasting the fact they are “fat-free” or “low sugar”, if the actual nutrition can have a 20 percent margin of error, then the whole selling point of the product can be nulled, but only if the population is aware of the leeway food companies are given. However, because companies resort to shady tactics, it is clear companies are not concerned for the population’s well-being. As long as companies continue to use misleading labels on their food products, average consumers could be making …show more content…
CCF describes itself as “devoted to promoting personal responsibility and protecting consumer choices” (“About Us”). However, being funded by companies like Wendy’s or Tyson Foods and with a history of lobbying in favor of those same companies, the legitimacy of “Consumer Freedom” should be put into question (Mayer and Joyce). If their purpose is to protect consumers to let them live how they want, what would make any consumer believe CCF would do or say anything that would hurt the sponsors that are supporting them. If anything negative or scandalous about those companies would surface, an organization with the phrase “Consumer Freedom” should definitely attempt to advise the public about such a thing. But as a result of being supported by companies who work in the same field as the organization that claims to be monitoring it, any news that would negatively affect them is likely to never see the light of day. As an organization who portrays themselves as an independent group to promote consumer-choice, a closer look reveals they are lobbying for the exact opposite intentionally. They have tons of money and lobbying power from their sponsors, and they have lobbied on behalf of industries such as fast food, meat, and tobacco (Mayer and
There’s been a growing trend to eat healthier in America. However, almost everyone consumes some fast food or processed food products. While there is more than one answer as to how we got this unhealthy, the companies in charge of our food are probably not as trustworthy as you think. By persuading public opinion, disregarding health concerns, and deceiving consumers, the corporations responsible for the food we eat have rigged the system in a way that is designed to force Americans to make unhealthy and uninformed choices.
While examining the impact food companies have on research, Marion Nestle, a nutrition scholar, found that out of 76 studies, over 90 percent of them were “favorable to the …show more content…
But in reality, it is completely legal for companies to list the Nutrition Facts of products within a 20 percent margin of the actual value of nutrients (Freuman). In this day of age when more people are health conscious and reading the label, having the actual nutritional content skewed by 20 percent can have big affects on the health of Americans in the long run. For example, a meal that is supposedly 500 calories could theoretically be 100 calories more! This level of deception should not even be permitted, and it is amazing to think that the FDA allows this big of a margin. Not only is the food industry deceiving Americans, it is putting the population’s health at risk for the sole purpose of making themselves look not as bad as they might be to sell their products. This is clearly unfair for the people who are actively searching for healthier foods. With some food items boasting the fact they are “fat-free” or “low sugar”, if the actual nutrition can have a 20 percent margin of error, then the whole selling point of the product can be nulled, but only if the population is aware of the leeway food companies are given. However, because companies resort to shady tactics, it is clear companies are not concerned for the population’s well-being. As long as companies continue to use misleading labels on their food products, average consumers could be making …show more content…
CCF describes itself as “devoted to promoting personal responsibility and protecting consumer choices” (“About Us”). However, being funded by companies like Wendy’s or Tyson Foods and with a history of lobbying in favor of those same companies, the legitimacy of “Consumer Freedom” should be put into question (Mayer and Joyce). If their purpose is to protect consumers to let them live how they want, what would make any consumer believe CCF would do or say anything that would hurt the sponsors that are supporting them. If anything negative or scandalous about those companies would surface, an organization with the phrase “Consumer Freedom” should definitely attempt to advise the public about such a thing. But as a result of being supported by companies who work in the same field as the organization that claims to be monitoring it, any news that would negatively affect them is likely to never see the light of day. As an organization who portrays themselves as an independent group to promote consumer-choice, a closer look reveals they are lobbying for the exact opposite intentionally. They have tons of money and lobbying power from their sponsors, and they have lobbied on behalf of industries such as fast food, meat, and tobacco (Mayer and