The Food And Beverage Industry

Many children of today are faced with the undeniable issue of obesity and other severe health conditions rooted from unhealthy eating habits and lack of exercise. When analyzing children from the mid 1970’s to now a significant increase in child obesity can be detected. This statement conjures the question who is responsible for what children are consuming and the opportunities that are made available for them. Instinctively humans are given free will to make choices for themselves; however, at a young age parents are the one’s who are making the decisions. Many adults are appealed by cheap, fast, and accessible which perfectly describes junk food. Given the choice of a healthy dinner or a pizza, when comparing prices, majority of people would choose the latter of the two. In terms of aiding this obesity epidemic the government also needs to step up in supporting the community both financially and socially. The government has access to a wide range of resources that can contribute to inflating the

America has been faced with the growing obesity epidemic. This is becoming very wide spread among all races and class levels due in part to the abundance of inexpensive food available and how easily people are becoming persuaded to but things they do not need. David Zinczenko published article “Don’t Blame the Eater”, Zinczenko argues that fast-food industries are not doing their job to provide clear enough nutritional information for hazardous food.

In the article “don’t blame the eater”, David Zinczenko focuses on the reason behind the obesity problem that the modern young generations are facing. According to him, the large chains of fast-food restaurants given their availability around the country and low prices are the ones causing this problem. He brings in his own life experience and tells the story of becoming a 212 pound teenager highlighting that he had to rely on these fast food chains for everyday meal. With a single mother, who worked long hours he had no other alternatives to this like many other American teens. The lack of information about the calorie content of the dishes on these restaurants was one other main concern. Most of these restaurants do not provide enough data about the calorie content of their dishes, and even if they do so its mostly vague and deceiving. To show the gravity of the problem he pulls out a statistics of an increase of 30% in type 2 diabetes resulting in an expense of hundreds of billions of dollars in healthcare. Zinczenko implies that this impact is as serious as smoking. Hence, fast food should have a warning label to raise awareness among the consumers. He addresses these food chains as vulnerable and warns these restaurants that they will find themselves in trouble unless they look out for their consumers. He also adds the further effects these food habits can have in our society.

In Laura Dawes book, Childhood Obesity in America: Biography of an Epidemic specifically the chapter titled, “Fat Kids Go to Court,” the author examines various aspects of the food industries role in the childhood obesity epidemic. Dawes explores specific actions taken by children’s advocacy groups as well as junk food companies response to the groups attacks on their industry. The author also highlights the role future litigation could take in changing the advertising tactics as well as possible food reformulation by food industry powerhouses.

The government may not be the only responsible party for what is going on in America, Fast Food corporations have grown into a part of everyday life. Relentless advertising focused on children with the use cartoon characters and larger portions or extra sizes to entice people. Yves Engler, author of Obesity: Much of the Responsibility Lies with Corporations, points out it’s not only fast food restaurants where unhealthy products are being consumed, but also soft drink companies with high calorie soda pop who are giving money to cash-strapped schools to advertise their product on school televisions. Meanwhile targeting young children who get their parents to buy their products. Engler proposes a solution regarding the increase in childhood obesity by first stating that vending machines should be removed from schools and the

In Zinczenco’s view “I'd say the industry is vulnerable. Fast-food companies are marketing to children a product with proven health hazards and no warning labels. They would do well to protect themselves, and their customers, by providing the nutrition information people need to make informed choices about their products” (Zinczenco, 2002.) In making this comment, Zinczenco urges fast food

Schools have started to ban all sorts of fast food products such as sodas, chips and processed food, but in addition they should teach students the danger in consuming certain food. They should warn students of the effects those foods will have on their bodies in the long run. In “Don’t Blame the Eater” fitness expert David Zinczenko mentions that “fast food companies are marketing to children a product with proven health hazards and no warning labels” (464). This false advertisement is often full of color, with images of happiness and delicious looking burgers to convince children to want their products. Fast food industries are smart to target children, because most of the time they know nothing about responsibility or what is good or bad for them. Zinczenko argues in his essay that without warnings or information“we’ll see more sick, obese children and more angry, litigious parents” (464). In contrast, if kids were warned and informed about the dangers in consuming unhealthy food, the number of obese children, diseases and angry parents would

The film fed up is an examination of America’s obesity epidemic and the food industry’s influence on it. The film Fed Up focused on childhood obesity. This film portrayed many issues that are present in the United States today. Childhood obesity is influenced by the constant advertisements focusing on the high sugar foods; these advertisements are targeting children. Along with targeting children these advertisements use favorite characters and idols to encourage children to want these products that may not be health for them at all. Advertisements are sending out false messages, such as ‘this product is good, your idol loves it so you will too!’. This isn’t fair to children to only show them advertisements of unhealthy, sugary foods. Children follow the examples of their parents, so if a parent not making the healthy choices then the children may follow their decisions healthy or not. The United States original “cure” for obesity is eat less and exercise more. However, this “cure” may not be the true answer to losing weight. In 1977 the obesity epidemic began as well as the low fat foods. The low fat foods were low in fat but in order to make the food palatable they doubled the sugar. Scientists believe that this

Food is a necessity, a source of energy that should be taken in moderation. Although, it has been an issue for consumers to maintain a healthy diet with the time and money while limiting their choices at the grocery store: purchases most often made swiftly and cheaply without reading the labels. Unknowingly, the food industry’s marketing shapes the ways consumers decide on their purchases, which significantly exploit children at a higher risk for obesity. “Salt Sugar Fat: How the Food Giants Hooked Us” written by Michael Moss will further critique and examine the American diet that has been heavily influenced by giant corporations, which use important ingredients like salt, sugar, and fat to compete against other corporations and continue to

Obesity is a prominent issue not just because the public ignores it, but because the current consumer culture enables it. The key to solving any problem is to figure out the cause. The cause to obesity is simply the decisions made by the consumer and the producer. By examining the root cause of the problem, steps can be made to rectify the obesity epidemic in this country. One issue is, that companies are more concerned with what will make them fast, easy money than they are concerned with how their product will influence public health. Another issue is the decisions the consumer makes when buying food. Society is responsible with providing better choices, but it is up to the individual to make consistent, healthy decisions for themselves. However, the choice to eat something unhealthy has more complex roots with economics, time, and marketing. The means and resources are often not available to lower socioeconomic families when making the decision on what to buy. Like many daunting challenges that require reform, the obesity epidemic in this country is a complex problem with multiple variables. By examining the market-consumer relationship of the food industry, a few of the issues propagating the obesity epidemic can be studied and reformed.

Political activist Yves Engler’s article “Obesity: Much of the Responsibility Lies with Corporations,” blames corporate capitalism for the obesity of children. Engler urges the government to put tighter limits on fast-food marketing not allowing them to reach the youth of America. Also Engler proposes that availability of junk food in the school system should decrease. Engler writes about how the government could help the obesity rate in children by creating more parks and funding physical education programs in public schools. Engler and Zinczenko both talk about the government’s ability to intervene in the fast-food industry, and both offer valid solutions. Engler talks about the

The average American eats about 60,000 pounds of food during the course of their lifetime, but what is it exactly that we call food? And how much of it should we really be getting. The dictionary definition of food in a Merriam-Webster dictionary is “something that nourishes, sustains, or supplies.” Unfortunately almost all of the food Americans consume on a daily basses is treated, infused with or been feed artificial hormones, stimulants and steroids which would not abide by that definition. In a society where one can so easily be judged on the lifestyle choices they make which include what they eat and how much of it, the way the world utilizes and exploits its food supply is severely flawed. In order to improve the way Americans utilize their food supply, its necessary to make aware how food is produced, how excess food is dealt with, and how the misuse of food can have varied devastating results.

The overall healthfulness of foods and beverages advertised in Canada varies provincially. Research has publicized that vast majority of Quebecers advertise healthier foods and beverages however; other English provinces particularly Ontario, are prominent in advertising nutritionally poor foods and beverages (Kent et al., 2012). This accounts for the significant prevalence of poor nutritional foods and beverages advertisements in Canada relative to other countries. Due to the fact that children aged 10 to 12 years in Quebec and Ontario are viewing significant amounts of food and beverage advertising that do not align with recommended nutritional guidelines, evidence suggested that effective policy is needed as per Recommendation 1 of the recently endorsed WHO recommendations which aims to reduce the impact of marketing of foods and beverages to children (Kent et al., 2012). In addition, evidence also suggested that there should be an implemented policy that will limit the frequency of advertised food and beverages products viewed by children in Canada as a whole (Kent et al., 2012)

Over the years as our nation grows, so does the appetite of many Americans, and this is why is important to prevent obesity. In recent studies, as obesity rates in the United State continue to increase, childhood obesity is among a persistent concern for the public health. Children between the age of two and five have grown in obesity rate and adolescents aged twelve to nineteen have tripled in that rate. Obesity has not only grown over the span of fifteen years but has become an epidemic among young Americans. But who has to be at fault for the increase of weight in youth? Why is important to prevent obesity in our youths? The cause of this epidemic of obesity is not always parents or the lack of good nutrition/exercise but also the tricks and schemes advertising do to attraction in consumers into buying their products but primary targeting the younger crowd. “Americans today are exposed to an unprecedented amount of readily available high-fat,

This case study deals with measuring the immeasurable in the food and beverage industry such as smell and taste. The problem was resolved using a Six Sigma DMAIC problem solving methodology. The basic equation of Six Sigma, Y = f(x), defines the relationship between a dependent variable ‘Y’ or the outcome of a process and a set of independent variables ‘x’ or possible causes which affect the outcome.