In the article "Don’t blame the eater" written by Zinczenko, he argues that fast food is the main reason why so many teenagers are suffering from obesity in United States. He explains that many companies will use advertisements to deceive customers. For example, a company’s website offers a chicken salad with less than four hundred calories per serving; however, they don’t label everything that the salad has In the first label. They will use separate labels in the products that the salad has on it, so the costumer gets confused and thinks that he is actually eating a four hundred calories salad that is "healthy". However, he is actually eating a seven or more hundred calories meal.
And they also knew how much to eat of a specific type of food. But now, standing “in our giant supermarkets, we feel more lost than someone standing in a forest ten thousand years ago” (Pollan 87). Right now, we’re not sure of which food is good to eat and which is not. Back then, simple rules helped maintain a level of understanding of what we were really eating. But thanks “to the food industry, we don’t even know what it is we’re eating” (Pollan 87).
He goes on to say “Complicating the lack of alternatives is the lack of information about what, exactly, we’re consuming” (197). He says there are no nutritional calorie charts on fast food packages, the way they are on grocery items. Most readers would instantly understand that statement, but Zinczenko hammers it home with an example of complicated calorie facts. He shows how fast food restaurants make their calorie information complicated by splitting up different parts of the meal. (198).
Food companies jump through meticulous hoops just for the reason of withholding nutritional information from their customers. “These companies fight, tooth and nail, against labeling. The fast food industry fought against giving you the calorie information. They fought against telling you if there is trans-fat in your food. The meat packing industry for years prevented country-of-origin labeling.
The food industry doesn’t want the consumers to know what is in their food and how their food is made, because the industry is afraid that if the consumers know, that they will not want to eat their food anymore (FOOD,
In the article, “Don’t Blame the Eater,” David Zinczenko argues it is the fast food industry’s fault for the nation 's growing obesity epidemic. Furthermore, he believes people should not be blamed for their own obesity. Zinczenko argues fast-food is much more available to the fast paced lifestyle people live in rather than consuming healthy alternatives. He also discusses the fact so many people are on a low budget, it is then best and more inexpensive for them to consume fast-food. Zinczenko states a claim that the fast-food industry “would do well to protect themselves, and their customers, by providing the nutrition information people need” (Zinczenko 464).
Food regulation and laws are a normal part of our life. In the early 1900’s, big businesses were ruthless and more concerned with making larger profits than the quality of its products. Also, in that time, the competition between businesses was scarce opposed to today’s market. There are countless number of businesses and companies in which one can purchase their goods from. This causes companies to really focus on the quality of their product in order to please the consumer.
Protection of the consumer consisted of passing the Meat Inspection Act of 1906 and the Pure Food and Drug Act. The Meat Inspection Act of 1906 was an act being pushed to ban misleading labels and preservatives that contained harmful chemicals. “The Food and Drugs Act of 1906 brought about a radical shift in the way Americans regarded some of the most fundamental commodities of life itself, like the foods we eat and the drugs we take to restore our health.” (Swann,1)Protecting the consumer was President Roosevelt’s main priority.
During the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries the neighboring countries of Spain and Portugal were both looking for quicker trade routes to Asia and India. The Portuguese took the eastern route to Asia, wrapping around southern Africa. They were the first of the two to reach Asia and India using this method. By reaching the quicker trade route first, the Portuguese ended up as one of the wealthiest countries in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. As a result of Portugal’s success, its neighboring country of Spain became jealous and began pushing for expeditions of their own.
Several acts have been passed that protect the safety and health of United States Consumers. The Food and Drug act of 1906 requires that there be unity and uniformity among food and drug products, and restricts the sale of hazardous goods. The Food Code of 2013 sets standards for food processing. The Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act ensures that products are not only safe for consumers, but that they are also fully aware of the goods they are buying. These acts beginning in 1906, have protected the public’s health, and prevented illness for over 100 years.
Some of the dates are just for the store workers or that's just the best time to use them. People need to know when the food has gone bad. With how confusing all these labels are they definitely need changed. The biggest reason for changing the labels is that people are wasting loads of food.
The customers have a right to know what is in their food. Packaged food in the grocery store has nutrition information in it by law so that people know what they are consuming. There is little difference between that and the food in resturants besides the cooking. The ingredients are the same and, while cooking does change the nutritional values, many common processes have known effects on nutritional value. Just as people have the choice to know what is in the food that they buy from the grocery store, they should be able to find out what is in the food they buy from resturants.
Throughout my research for my argumentative essay, I have come to a conclusion that labels on foods are confusing for most people, they are not clear enough and they make people second guess what they are buying. This problem has caused people to have real life issues and has caused this world to make some problems even bigger. I want these sources to help me argue that this is a big issue and that there is way to fix it. My research goals are to find sources that will provide the meaning of each words on the labels, discuss what problems these labels cause such as people to ruining their healthy lifestyle, causing people to have trouble finding out if they are allergic to the food, and causing people to waste more food. I also want to find
American consumers have become accustomed to this notion of uniformity, without realizing that what is purchased now is a “notion of a tomato, picked green, and ripened with ethylene gas,” as Robert Kenner expresses in the documentary, Food Inc. There is a common denial forged between what is known and what one chooses not to know about what is being consumed. In order to make an informed decision society must first be given the option by being provided with the right
Should Fast foods have warning labels? From the skyrocketing obesity crisis to convenience, it's time to put warning labels on fast food. In May 1988, Canada passed the Tobacco Sales to Young Persons Act; this act required tobacco companies to put warnings labels such as; “smoking increases the risk of lung cancer” or “smoking during pregnancy can harm the baby” on their packaging. The same should happen to all fast-foods, fast-foods should have warning labels on them warning potential customers about their dangerous hazards.
