Fast Food Industry in U.S Essay

A variety of different regulations have been set for people that are concerned with tobacco either on a personal level or commercially. Tobacco is associated with damages and thus it has been attacked by medical authorities and social observers. The fast food industry is no exception since it has also contributed to different damages to people’s health. Obesity is just one of the many ailments caused by fast food joints. FDA has made sure that regulations are set and implemented to protect people from damages that tobacco cause. FDA and Tobacco Regulation have some policies that prevent the families from smoking (McGrew, 2008). There is a control act for Tobacco that requires changes to be made to the labeling and advertising of various tobacco products. This act regulates all the advertising to ensure that information passed to people through advertisements is controlled. I think strict regulations should be put in place for the fast food industry. All fast food joints should ensure that their menus have healthier diets. Through advertising, advice can be given to people about their eating so that people can make informed choices on healthy foods. Just like the Tobacco control act, fast foods should post their menus or readable signs of the contents of various foods in terms of how many calories, saturated fat and carbohydrate a diet contain (Tom Paulson, 2008). This menu board can be placed in a readable place inside the restaurant so that when a person makes a choice of food, he or she can be aware of what is being consumed. Tobacco has been subjected to a regulatory control on its production. King James expressed his opinion towards Tobacco production and consumption. He said that tobacco was loathsome to people eyes, it was hateful to people’s nose, it brought harm to the brain and it was a big danger to people’s lung. This statement explains the most specific damages that Tobacco causes to the entire body. The above statement by the King also applies to fast foods. Meat consumption is viewed just as dangerous as Tobacco is to the public health. The people that can be held accountable legally for unhealthy lifestyles are meat producers and the fast food outlets. The fast food industry should be legally accountable for obesity. Living longer does not mean leaving healthier. There has been a great shift between what people eat and where they get their food from. Economic and public health continues to suffer the consequences brought by obesity and a question is raised who can be held accountable. This question is similar to the issue related to illnesses caused by tobacco which is another public health problem. There are different lawsuits brought against fast food industries like McDonald just like tobacco industries was earlier faced by the same disparaging reaction (Michelle M. Mello, 2007). The responsibility of the harm smoking causes was squarely laid on the tobacco industry by the public. These claims were solved by some tight regulations which have ensured the control of tobacco products to date. Fast food offer bad foods but the biggest problem is that a number of people seem not to disregard this fact despite knowing it. The industry tends to do just fine because their unhealthy foods continue to be consumed. For this reason they do not find the need for implementing policies but on the contrary this should be a prime reason as to why they should regulate the industry in a similar way to tobacco industries. My suggestion would be if people must eat these fast foods then they should know the best and the worst so that the role of making the choice can be left on the customer not the vendor. Why fast food industries should have similar policies to tobacco industry is because it has the same damages to the public health. Fast foods have faced claims from different customers in regard to the products produced. Consumption of these products has caused: obesity which has lead to diabetes, heart diseases due to excess fats, high blood pressure, high cholesterol intake and other health effects. The public have claimed that some fast food industries have engaged in advertising that is deceiving, low quality sales and promotions. Fast food has also been accused of producing food that is unreasonably unsafe, and lacking to inform customers on the dangers of these products. There is a rising level of obesity in the world today and the cause is found in the way our food is being grown, processed and packaged (Brownell, 2009). Fast food industry should adapt the marketing and the tactics in lobbying that are used by the tobacco industries. The tobacco industry used legal, political and business strategies tactic due to the concern that the industry had to the public health. Fast foods should employ these same regulations that the tobacco giants employed. The public should be informed about the link that exists between various fast food products and diseases. The doubts that the public has regarding to fast food products should be cleared through intensive marketing especially to the target consumers and in the fast food case it’s the children, adolescents and young adults. Just like tobacco is addictive fast foods can also cause an addiction especially to people who dislike cooking at home or mostly live alone in their homes. The industry should embrace regulations since a great concern has been raised about fast food and how they are advertising their products and selling unhealthy food to school children. Food industry should take up only the good policies that the tobacco industry used and leave the deceptive path. References Brownell, K. (2009, April 8). Food Industry Pursues the strategy of Big Tobacco. anvironment 360 . McGrew, J. L. (2008). History of Tobacco Regulation. Washington D. C. Michelle M. Mello, E. B. (2007). The Fast Food Industry and Legal Accountability. The McLawsuit . Tom Paulson, P. R. (2008, December 31). Fast food chains must post fat, calories. Retrieved March 2012, 2012, from County’s new rules aim at healthier eating: http://www. seattlepi. com/local/article/Fast-food-chains-must-post-fat-calori.