Slow burn on fast food
By Elizabeth M. Whelan
Published May 6, 2006
Fast food is under increasing attack. It has become the perfect
scapegoat for our nation's obesity crisis. Critics argue the
consumption of burgers, fries, soda, nuggets and pizza explain why
Americans -- including kids -- are so fat. Never mind that obesity is
the result of overconsumption of calories from all sources (and most
meals daily are eaten at home, not at fast-food establishments),
combined with a lack of sufficient exercise to burn those calories.
For every complex problem there is a simple solution -- which turns
out be wrong. In the simple drama unfolding about obesity, the role of
villain is currently being played by McDonald's, Burger King and other
vendors who can quickly serve up tasty, inexpensive and often
calorically dense food.
The heat in the fast-food debate is about to be turned up
significantly as critics try a new approach, communicating the message
directly to children, telling them Happy Meals are really very sad
indeed.
In a forthcoming book, "Chew on This" -- aimed at pre-teenagers --
Eric Schlosser, the author of "Fast Food Nation," launches a
multifaceted attack on fast food and the companies that advertise and
sell it.
Mr. Schlosser hope parents will buy this book for their kids. Here
is why they should not:
First, Mr. Schlosser (a journalist, not a doctor) repeatedly argues
the food served at McDonald's and other such restaurants is inherently
different, less nutritious, and unsafe. This message is false. The fare
served at all reputable outlets of this type is wholesome, basic food
served up in a particularly tasty and appealing manner.
There is, for example, essentially no difference in terms of fat,
sodium and calories between a lunch of a cheeseburger, fries and soda
devoured under the golden arches versus a broiled ground chuck burger
with cheese, a large baked potato with butter and salt, and a standard
beverage consumed in Mom's kitchen -- except that the serving size of
the burger at home may be considerably larger.
The author's repeated pejorative reference to "chemicals" in fast
food (for example, harping on the "59 ingredients" in a strawberry
milkshake) only takes advantage of the naivete of kids (and probably
their parents, too) about the fact all food, processed or natural, is
100 percent comprised of chemicals (there are more than 150 natural
chemicals in a potato). And the suggestion fast foods are unsafe in
other ways flies in the face of the strictly enforced standard
protocols for food handling and cooking in these establishments, which
reduce the probability of food-borne disease to nearly zero. Certainly
the same cannot be said about home-cooked food.
Second, the author claims fast food is so dangerous and
inappropriate for kids it should not be advertised, just as "you can't
market alcohol to children, or cigarettes or guns" -- as if there were
anything at all in common between alcohol, cigarettes, guns and food.
Third, Mr. Schlosser takes on socioeconomic issues totally
inappropriate for children, and he does so in a deliberately distorted
fashion. For example, he manipulates his readers into distress and
anxiety with his claims McDonald's exploits children by offering them
low-paying jobs, even citing an example of a teenager who has to get up
very early in the morning on frigid weekend mornings to flip burgers.
He also claims, without evidence, that these restaurants both promote
dangerous working conditions at slaughterhouses and promote cruelty to
animals.
Eric Schlosser hates fast foods. But a careful read of his books on
the subject confirms he really hates big, successful corporations,
their efficiency, and, of course, their associated profits. He despises
the fact kids, and adults -- love burgers, fries and shakes -- since he
thinks McDonald's should serve only fruits, vegetables and water.
"Chew on This" may do well on the talk show rounds, as critics get
a chance to lament the nation's obesity crisis and take their
frustrations out on their favorite corporate punching bags. But this
book should be off-limit to kids. At least it should carry a
full-disclosure label: "Contains super-sized helpings of hype, opinion,
misinformation and scare tactics."
Elizabeth M. Whelan is founder and president of the American
Council on Science and Health.