Posted 2/4/2004 9:36 PM

Don't punish food companies for world's growing girth

http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinio...view-usat_x.htm

America's obesity problems are getting weightier — at home and abroad. A report last month showed that obesity, which is linked to diabetes, heart disease and cancer, cost the U.S. $75 billion in health care in 2003. If that weren't depressing enough, international health experts are accusing the U.S. of exporting its obesity problem in the form of junk food.

The report by RTI International, a U.S. research firm, bolsters a global consensus that the issue needs to be tackled. That's true. But in a case of mixing apples and oranges — or, in this case, Twinkies and cigarettes — some members of the World Health Organization (WHO) are pushing for global regulation of Big Food manufacturers modeled after the efforts that have worked so well against Big Tobacco. Among them: taxes on junk food and advertising limits .

The effort overlooks a critical difference. Unlike food companies, tobacco producers sell a product that has proved deadly and addictive even when used as intended. Not only do people have to eat to live, but nutritionists long have taught that there are no "bad" foods, only "bad" ways of using food.

By pushing the false comparison, international critics downplay the U.S. emphasis on some sensible strategies to promote healthy eating, and they set a dangerous precedent for other companies that sell safe products. What's next? Fining shoe manufacturers for bunions, mattress makers for backaches and perfumeries for allergic reactions?

In fact, recent evidence suggests governmental Twinkie police are less effective than the marketplace in this food fight. Consider:

Government failures. In spite of a 13-year ban in Sweden on TV junk-food ads aimed at children, the percentage of overweight Swedish kids is as high as in comparable European countries. And though the French government long has condemned McDonald's as a threat to health and French culture, nearly 1,000 McDonald's franchises have opened across France since 1979.

Market changes. Consumer concerns have prompted companies to offer healthier foods. Last year, PepsiCo began making its Frito-Lay snacks without trans-fatty acids, which are linked to obesity and heart disease. Other companies have followed suit. Many fast-food restaurants now sell salads and fruit. And as the low-carbohydrate Atkins diet has caught on, supermarkets and restaurants are offering low-carb foods.

The initiative on diet, physical activity and health that the WHO is developing is intended to guide, not dictate, a range of anti-obesity measures. Critics accuse the U.S. of trying to sabotage the guidelines by adding amendments emphasizing personal responsibility. Almost lost in the brouhaha, though, is the fact that countries would be able to pick which strategies they implement.

The U.S. also is leading the way by showing ways to better empower consumers. The Food and Drug Administration, for example, is requiring food processors to start disclosing in 2006 how much trans fat is in their foods. And the FDA is instituting a system that grades how well the science supports food-health claims.

The WHO rightly has made tackling obesity a priority since identifying it as a worldwide epidemic in 2000. But an army of informed consumers is better equipped to fight the battle of the bulge than government regulators.

"nutritionists long have taught that there are no "bad" foods, only "bad" ways of using food."

They've been teaching fat is bad!