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News :: Children |
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Limit The Big Macs, McDonald's Ad Warns |
Current rating: 0 |
by Marian Burros
(No verified email address) |
01 Nov 2002
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In an "advertorial" about obesity in children that appeared in the magazine Femme Actuelle in May, McDonald's France said the number of visits to its outlets should be limited. Forbidding children from eating fast food would be counterproductive, it said. "However, there is no reason to eat excessive amounts of junk food, nor go more than once a week to McDonald's." |
WASHINGTON It isn't often that a food company tells its customers that it should eat less of its food. But that is what McDonald's appears to have done in France.
.
In an "advertorial" about obesity in children that appeared in the magazine Femme Actuelle in May, McDonald's France said the number of visits to its outlets should be limited. Forbidding children from eating fast food would be counterproductive, it said. "However, there is no reason to eat excessive amounts of junk food, nor go more than once a week to McDonald's."
.
A spokesman for McDonald's in the United States said the company did not agree with the views expressed in the advertorial.
.
"This is the opinion of one consultant in France," the company said in a statement. "We do not share this view at all."
.
The company declined to say how a consultant was able to place the views in a French publication without the approval of company executives.
.
John Banzhaf 3d, a professor of law at George Washington University who pioneered lawsuits against the tobacco industry and has now focused on the fast-food industry, said, "It is one thing for a health advocate like me to call for something like this, but when someone in industry calls for what we are saying, that makes it sound very reasonable."
.
McDonald's has had an uneasy relationship with the French recently because of mad cow disease and the efforts of one French citizen, Jose Bove, to protect French culture from foreign influences. Bove became a folk hero in 1999 when he led a group of French farmers to ransack a McDonald's in the town of Millau. Bove was jailed for two months for the action.
.
Along with other fast food companies, the relationship of McDonald's with the American public has also come under some strain. Nutrition advocacy groups have been trying for years to attribute obesity to the fast food industry, without much success.
.
But over the last year, lawsuits have begun to replace hectoring. The suits contend that fast food companies should warn customers that their products are very high in fat and calories and that frequent consumption can cause obesity.
.
The suits are similar to those filed against tobacco companies.
.
The advertorial in the French magazine "shows that health warnings about the dangers of eating out often at fast food restaurants are not only appropriate but may be necessary to avoid liability if children become obese as a result of overindulgence," Banzhaf said.
.
The food industry says such suits are frivolous, and the National Restaurant Association and the Grocery Manufacturers of America have asked Congress for protection against them.
.
McDonald's also described as frivolous a lawsuit that Banzhaf's law students filed against the company for not disclosing that it used beef tallow in making its fries. But the company paid $12.5 million in March to settle the case, he said.
.
Even before the lawsuits, McDonald's, Coca-Cola and several other companies began a campaign aimed at childhood obesity to deflect mounting criticism of their products. In addition, McDonald's announced last month that it was switching the fat in which it cooks its fries to one that contains fewer trans fatty acids, which raise cholesterol levels.
.
In the early 1990s, when nutrition labeling became mandatory in the United States, the fast food industry succeeded in exempting itself from the requirement. But because of increased pressure, it now says that nutrition information is readily available in all of its outlets, although some critics contend that the information is difficult to find.
.
Banzhaf said that the majority of people would probably say that fat people have no right to sue fast food companies. But he added "that that is exactly what they said when we said smokers could sue tobacco companies, and we have won the suits and we have been sustained on intermediate appeals."
.
"When you win on the trial level and win on appellate level," he added, "they are no longer frivolous suits."
.
Banzhaf has organized a group of health experts and lawyers who worked on the tobacco cases to expand the lawsuits.
.
"We want to combine the altruistic motives and profit motives of lawyers and use them against obesity," he said.
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WASHINGTON It isn't often that a food company tells its customers that it should eat less of its food. But that is what McDonald's appears to have done in France.
.
In an "advertorial" about obesity in children that appeared in the magazine Femme Actuelle in May, McDonald's France said the number of visits to its outlets should be limited. Forbidding children from eating fast food would be counterproductive, it said. "However, there is no reason to eat excessive amounts of junk food, nor go more than once a week to McDonald's."
.
A spokesman for McDonald's in the United States said the company did not agree with the views expressed in the advertorial.
.
"This is the opinion of one consultant in France," the company said in a statement. "We do not share this view at all."
.
The company declined to say how a consultant was able to place the views in a French publication without the approval of company executives.
.
John Banzhaf 3d, a professor of law at George Washington University who pioneered lawsuits against the tobacco industry and has now focused on the fast-food industry, said, "It is one thing for a health advocate like me to call for something like this, but when someone in industry calls for what we are saying, that makes it sound very reasonable."
.
McDonald's has had an uneasy relationship with the French recently because of mad cow disease and the efforts of one French citizen, Jose Bove, to protect French culture from foreign influences. Bove became a folk hero in 1999 when he led a group of French farmers to ransack a McDonald's in the town of Millau. Bove was jailed for two months for the action.
.
Along with other fast food companies, the relationship of McDonald's with the American public has also come under some strain. Nutrition advocacy groups have been trying for years to attribute obesity to the fast food industry, without much success.
.
But over the last year, lawsuits have begun to replace hectoring. The suits contend that fast food companies should warn customers that their products are very high in fat and calories and that frequent consumption can cause obesity.
.
The suits are similar to those filed against tobacco companies.
.
The advertorial in the French magazine "shows that health warnings about the dangers of eating out often at fast food restaurants are not only appropriate but may be necessary to avoid liability if children become obese as a result of overindulgence," Banzhaf said.
.
The food industry says such suits are frivolous, and the National Restaurant Association and the Grocery Manufacturers of America have asked Congress for protection against them.
.
McDonald's also described as frivolous a lawsuit that Banzhaf's law students filed against the company for not disclosing that it used beef tallow in making its fries. But the company paid $12.5 million in March to settle the case, he said.
.
Even before the lawsuits, McDonald's, Coca-Cola and several other companies began a campaign aimed at childhood obesity to deflect mounting criticism of their products. In addition, McDonald's announced last month that it was switching the fat in which it cooks its fries to one that contains fewer trans fatty acids, which raise cholesterol levels.
.
In the early 1990s, when nutrition labeling became mandatory in the United States, the fast food industry succeeded in exempting itself from the requirement. But because of increased pressure, it now says that nutrition information is readily available in all of its outlets, although some critics contend that the information is difficult to find.
.
Banzhaf said that the majority of people would probably say that fat people have no right to sue fast food companies. But he added "that that is exactly what they said when we said smokers could sue tobacco companies, and we have won the suits and we have been sustained on intermediate appeals."
.
"When you win on the trial level and win on appellate level," he added, "they are no longer frivolous suits."
.
Banzhaf has organized a group of health experts and lawyers who worked on the tobacco cases to expand the lawsuits.
.
"We want to combine the altruistic motives and profit motives of lawyers and use them against obesity," he said.
WASHINGTON It isn't often that a food company tells its customers that it should eat less of its food. But that is what McDonald's appears to have done in France.
.
In an "advertorial" about obesity in children that appeared in the magazine Femme Actuelle in May, McDonald's France said the number of visits to its outlets should be limited. Forbidding children from eating fast food would be counterproductive, it said. "However, there is no reason to eat excessive amounts of junk food, nor go more than once a week to McDonald's."
.
A spokesman for McDonald's in the United States said the company did not agree with the views expressed in the advertorial.
.
"This is the opinion of one consultant in France," the company said in a statement. "We do not share this view at all."
.
The company declined to say how a consultant was able to place the views in a French publication without the approval of company executives.
.
John Banzhaf 3d, a professor of law at George Washington University who pioneered lawsuits against the tobacco industry and has now focused on the fast-food industry, said, "It is one thing for a health advocate like me to call for something like this, but when someone in industry calls for what we are saying, that makes it sound very reasonable."
.
McDonald's has had an uneasy relationship with the French recently because of mad cow disease and the efforts of one French citizen, Jose Bove, to protect French culture from foreign influences. Bove became a folk hero in 1999 when he led a group of French farmers to ransack a McDonald's in the town of Millau. Bove was jailed for two months for the action.
.
Along with other fast food companies, the relationship of McDonald's with the American public has also come under some strain. Nutrition advocacy groups have been trying for years to attribute obesity to the fast food industry, without much success.
.
But over the last year, lawsuits have begun to replace hectoring. The suits contend that fast food companies should warn customers that their products are very high in fat and calories and that frequent consumption can cause obesity.
.
The suits are similar to those filed against tobacco companies.
.
The advertorial in the French magazine "shows that health warnings about the dangers of eating out often at fast food restaurants are not only appropriate but may be necessary to avoid liability if children become obese as a result of overindulgence," Banzhaf said.
.
The food industry says such suits are frivolous, and the National Restaurant Association and the Grocery Manufacturers of America have asked Congress for protection against them.
.
McDonald's also described as frivolous a lawsuit that Banzhaf's law students filed against the company for not disclosing that it used beef tallow in making its fries. But the company paid $12.5 million in March to settle the case, he said.
.
Even before the lawsuits, McDonald's, Coca-Cola and several other companies began a campaign aimed at childhood obesity to deflect mounting criticism of their products. In addition, McDonald's announced last month that it was switching the fat in which it cooks its fries to one that contains fewer trans fatty acids, which raise cholesterol levels.
.
In the early 1990s, when nutrition labeling became mandatory in the United States, the fast food industry succeeded in exempting itself from the requirement. But because of increased pressure, it now says that nutrition information is readily available in all of its outlets, although some critics contend that the information is difficult to find.
.
Banzhaf said that the majority of people would probably say that fat people have no right to sue fast food companies. But he added "that that is exactly what they said when we said smokers could sue tobacco companies, and we have won the suits and we have been sustained on intermediate appeals."
.
"When you win on the trial level and win on appellate level," he added, "they are no longer frivolous suits."
.
Banzhaf has organized a group of health experts and lawyers who worked on the tobacco cases to expand the lawsuits.
.
"We want to combine the altruistic motives and profit motives of lawyers and use them against obesity," he said.
WASHINGTON It isn't often that a food company tells its customers that it should eat less of its food. But that is what McDonald's appears to have done in France.
.
In an "advertorial" about obesity in children that appeared in the magazine Femme Actuelle in May, McDonald's France said the number of visits to its outlets should be limited. Forbidding children from eating fast food would be counterproductive, it said. "However, there is no reason to eat excessive amounts of junk food, nor go more than once a week to McDonald's."
.
A spokesman for McDonald's in the United States said the company did not agree with the views expressed in the advertorial.
.
"This is the opinion of one consultant in France," the company said in a statement. "We do not share this view at all."
.
The company declined to say how a consultant was able to place the views in a French publication without the approval of company executives.
.
John Banzhaf 3d, a professor of law at George Washington University who pioneered lawsuits against the tobacco industry and has now focused on the fast-food industry, said, "It is one thing for a health advocate like me to call for something like this, but when someone in industry calls for what we are saying, that makes it sound very reasonable."
.
McDonald's has had an uneasy relationship with the French recently because of mad cow disease and the efforts of one French citizen, Jose Bove, to protect French culture from foreign influences. Bove became a folk hero in 1999 when he led a group of French farmers to ransack a McDonald's in the town of Millau. Bove was jailed for two months for the action.
.
Along with other fast food companies, the relationship of McDonald's with the American public has also come under some strain. Nutrition advocacy groups have been trying for years to attribute obesity to the fast food industry, without much success.
.
But over the last year, lawsuits have begun to replace hectoring. The suits contend that fast food companies should warn customers that their products are very high in fat and calories and that frequent consumption can cause obesity.
.
The suits are similar to those filed against tobacco companies.
.
The advertorial in the French magazine "shows that health warnings about the dangers of eating out often at fast food restaurants are not only appropriate but may be necessary to avoid liability if children become obese as a result of overindulgence," Banzhaf said.
.
The food industry says such suits are frivolous, and the National Restaurant Association and the Grocery Manufacturers of America have asked Congress for protection against them.
.
McDonald's also described as frivolous a lawsuit that Banzhaf's law students filed against the company for not disclosing that it used beef tallow in making its fries. But the company paid $12.5 million in March to settle the case, he said.
.
Even before the lawsuits, McDonald's, Coca-Cola and several other companies began a campaign aimed at childhood obesity to deflect mounting criticism of their products. In addition, McDonald's announced last month that it was switching the fat in which it cooks its fries to one that contains fewer trans fatty acids, which raise cholesterol levels.
.
In the early 1990s, when nutrition labeling became mandatory in the United States, the fast food industry succeeded in exempting itself from the requirement. But because of increased pressure, it now says that nutrition information is readily available in all of its outlets, although some critics contend that the information is difficult to find.
.
Banzhaf said that the majority of people would probably say that fat people have no right to sue fast food companies. But he added "that that is exactly what they said when we said smokers could sue tobacco companies, and we have won the suits and we have been sustained on intermediate appeals."
.
"When you win on the trial level and win on appellate level," he added, "they are no longer frivolous suits."
.
Banzhaf has organized a group of health experts and lawyers who worked on the tobacco cases to expand the lawsuits.
.
"We want to combine the altruistic motives and profit motives of lawyers and use them against obesity," he said.
Copyright 2002 The New York Times |
Comments
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The American Way |
by brian
(No verified email address) |
Current rating: 0
01 Nov 2002
|
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produces the fatest peeople on earth. |
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