Food Industry and Obesity Epidemic

Healthy life, comfort and healthy and nutritious food are the crucial requirements of human life. But in today’s highly competitive food industry, most of the food processing companies avoid the safety criteria in the thirst of their profit maximization motives. The concept of junk foods and other food items that is supplying by the food industries, adversely affect the health of people and causes large number of problems. The role of food industry in such a scenario is questionable. The industry should help and guide the customers to select the right and healthy product instead of this food processing companies are selling products that causes obesity epidemic. In a thirst of earning more and more profit, these food organizations forget their responsibilities towards the community people where these organizations operate their business (Vandevijvere, Chow, Hall, Umali, & Swinburn, 2015).

Food industry is more sensitive and aware about the public taste and preferences. The industry avoids its responsibility and most of the food manufacturing organization avoid their commitment to provide specific and accurate information related to food products. As industry should have responsibility to provide accurate, clear, and real information about the products to the consumer and should also cooperate and guide other retailer and wholesalers about sharing this product information with the customer (Popkin & Kenan Jr, 2016).

 It has been seen that food processing organizations avoid their responsibility towards the public and it results in obesity in every three people out of five people in USA. However, the food industries spend millions of dollars every year on the food product development, its packaging, advertising and marketing that force people to buy more and more food products which further creates profit for these organizations. However, apart from this, it is really problematic for the people and government as well that food industry always claims that they are providing best and healthy foods to consumer. For example, Mc Donald’s claims many times that they empower individuals to make informed choices about their energy intake (consumed calories in foods) and energy expenditure (burns calories in physical activity) (Swinburn, B., Kraak, Rutter, Vandevijvere, Lobstein, Sacks, & Magnusson, 2015). Just like this Coca-Cola claims that they are providing physical and nutrition programs that covers every student in their schools and colleges. It shows that nobody wants to accept the claim that they are offering products which is harmful for the people and causes obesity epidemic in young children and youths (Zobel, Hansen, Rossing, & von Scholten, 2016).

The government should try to ban all these food processing companies, However, if government allows these companies then the permission should be limited where they do not harm the health of people. The policy should be frame in such a way that restrict these companies to use such ingredients or recipe in the food processing that adversely affect the health of consumer (Zylke & Bauchner, 2016). However, the government should take strict action against those food processing company who breaches the policies and make a provision for prison and fine both for offering harmful ingredient mix food products which causes obesity epidemic in consumer. 

References

Popkin, B. M., & Kenan Jr, W. R. (2016). Preventing type 2 diabetes: Changing the food industry. Best Practice & Research Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, 30(3), 373-383.

Swinburn, B., Kraak, V., Rutter, H., Vandevijvere, S., Lobstein, T., Sacks, G., & Magnusson, R. (2015). Strengthening of accountability systems to create healthy food environments and reduce global obesity. The Lancet, 385(9986), 2534-2545.

Vandevijvere, S., Chow, C. C., Hall, K. D., Umali, E., & Swinburn, B. A. (2015). Increased food energy supply as a major driver of the obesity epidemic: a global analysis. Bulletin of the World Health Organization, 93, 446-456.

Zobel, E. H., Hansen, T. W., Rossing, P., & von Scholten, B. J. (2016). Global changes in food supply and the obesity epidemic. Current obesity reports, 5(4), 449-455.

Zylke, J. W., & Bauchner, H. (2016). The unrelenting challenge of obesity. Jama, 315(21), 2277-2278.