Health Chief Warns Fast-Food Joints to Shape Up
By Randy Fabi
WASHINGTON
(Reuters) - Fast food joints may soon get singled out by the U.S. health
department head if they don't shape up and stop feeding the country's obesity
problem. Health
and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson on Thursday said public pressure
might do far more than lawsuits and legislation to curb the junk food explosion
that costs the government $117 billion each year in obesity-related health care
costs. 'I'm
going to start giving out awards and singling out ones that are doing good and
the ones that aren't,' he told reporters at a food policy conference. 'If I get
in trouble, I get in trouble.' Thompson
specified PepsiCo Inc., Coca-Cola Co., McDonald's, Wendy's and Taco Bell as
companies that could offer consumers healthier options and promote more-sensible
diets. Thompson
made his remarks as lawyers were preparing to file new lawsuits that accuse
McDonald's Corp., Burger King and other drive-through chains for the rising
obesity rate in the United States. Thompson,
who has recently lost 15 pounds by eating less rice, potatoes and bread, said he
prefers government programs that offer cities and food companies incentives to
promote healthier lifestyles. 'It
is important to pressure the food industry, the fast food industry, the soft
drink society ... getting them to offer healthier foods and put more things on
the menu dealing with fruits and vegetables,' he said. 'I don't support
lawsuits. I think we can do this as a society.' At
the conference, attorney John Banzhaf, whose 1970s crusades against the tobacco
industry helped get cigarette commercials off the air, presented the National
Restaurant Association with a notice of possible legal action against the
industry. Banzhaf
and other lawyers claim that food companies, just like cigarette producers in
the past, are not properly warning consumers that their products may be
addictive. The
National Restaurant Association, which represents the fast-food giants and some
870,000 other U.S. restaurants, has countered that those claims are frivolous. The
first major obesity case, filed against McDonald's, was dismissed in January. At
least two other cases have been dropped. Nearly
two out of every three adult Americans and 15 percent of children are overweight
or obese, Thompson said. Thompson
said Americans can drastically reduce the amount of obesity-related health care
costs by making simple lifestyle changes like walking 30 minutes a day. |