San Francisco's Misguided Junk Food Lawsuit

San Francisco plans on filing one of the most ill-aimed lawsuits in history. They plan on suing food manufacturers over ultra-processed foods (UPFs), arguing that local governments have been shouldering the costs of treating diseases that stem from public consumption of the companies’ products – which in itself, is stupid. The lawsuit blames greedy global corporations, not individual choices or the FDA’s lax efforts, for the rise of UPFs, which are listed as a leading cause of the “chronic disease pandemic”.

As implied, the lawsuit targets the wrong people. Food manufacturers aren’t holding weapons to anyone’s head, holding relatives hostage, or using funnels to jam fake foods down anyone’s throat. Consumption of such food is being done by consumers, voluntarily and willingly. Manufacturers are simply providing what most consumers want: quick and easy.

I’ve debated parents via Facebook who argue they need ready-made food they can quickly pop into an oven or microwave. They argue that if they took the time to cook food from scratch, they wouldn’t have time to run their children to all their different activities – which brings up my favorite question to these food-stupid parents. What’s more important? Making sure your child makes it to baseball and cheerleader practice… or making sure they eat healthy? Feeding them crap food is setting them up for a lifetime of disease and bad health. Shame on those parents. They need to make the time and effort… or shut up about their health care issues.

UPFs are industrially manufactured food products containing ingredients not found in the average home kitchen, such as preservatives, flavor enhancers, artificial colors and emulsifiers, with little to no whole food content. Allegedly 70% of the US food supply is composed of foods commonly considered ultra-processed, such as sugary drinks, chicken nuggets, frozen pizzas, potato chips, and sugary breakfast cereals. Even many breads and granola bars make the list.

Did you see one item above that is commonly made from scratch at home? No! Why? Because it’s not REAL food… QUIT BUYING IT! If it comes with a nutrition label, put it down - odds are it’s not good for you. Lawsuits should target the FDA instead, for allowing such additives.

When I turned 50, I took label reading seriously and decided I didn’t want to put that garbage into my body. Why? The health of older people around me, and their medical costs. I’m surrounded by people with cancer, obesity, type 2 diabetes, depression, heart disease and cognitive decline. If you mostly grab boxed and canned foods from the aisles in the grocery, that’s what you’re heading for.

Occasional ultra-processed food is okay (who doesn’t love soft chocolate chip cookies), but the lesser the better. An immune system can only handle so much before you destroy it and it quits doing its job.

Is healthy eating more expensive? Not really… if you know how to shop. Even if it is, shouldn’t a little extra money be worth your children’s healthy well-being, and yours? Doing so will save money and aggravation in the long run due to fewer healthcare needs.

Source used: The Guardian