No matter how motivated you are to eat healthy, it’s hard to look away when you see crispy fries and juicy burgers on your television screen. According to the Harvard Health Review, “The war on obesity is now ramping up, with new research estimating that the global cost will be a crippling $4 trillion by 2035.” A big factor in this increase is the issue of food fraud. Food fraud is defined as the intentional deception of a food’s quality, identity, or composition of a food. Driven to consume by big food companies, most people simply aren’t aware of the hidden dangers in their grocery carts. The food industry needs to change in order to save the health of Americans.
As the obesity crisis rises exponentially, the big food industry continues to cover its footsteps. Ultra-processed foods, increasing portion sizes, and misleading marketing/studies are all a part of the worsening issue, and they all ultimately lead to higher disease rates, higher obesity, and ongoing sugar and caffeine addiction. Despite the health of Americans declining, the food industry continues to prioritize maximizing profit over saving millions of lives.
The big food industry, consisting of large companies that dominate food processing, manufacturing, and retail, is responsible for the skyrocketing obesity rates. Big food companies, like Kellog’s, Nestle, and Coca-Cola, push and advertise misleading processed foods to consumers for cheap. Even though ultra-processed foods are linked to obesity and other diseases, they are still pushed hard on consumers because they are cheaper to produce. Furthermore, corporations have also increased the portion sizes of foods in hopes of increasing revenue, which leads to an increased unhealthy caloric intake. In order to justify these tactics, companies also hire researchers and fund skewed research studies to avoid lawsuits and regulations. According to Scientific American, “more than half of these studies yielded outcomes favorable to company products, compared with less than 10 percent lacking such support.” Using these studies, they often market their products as “healthy” or “additive free,” yet they still contain unhealthy ingredients and are ultra processed. Even Americans consciously attempting to eat healthy are likely to consume excess sugar, even unknowingly.
These unhealthy foods have a devastating impact on the health of the general population. As Americans increasingly consume unhealthy products, they have higher levels of obesity, sugar addiction, and disease, which puts a toll on the healthcare system. According to the National Institute of Health, “Globally, obesity has more than doubled in adults since 1990, and quadrupled in adolescents. In 2022, 1 in 8 people worldwide were living with obesity.” Companies have yet to shoulder the blame for the health crisis as many Americans face limited food options. They argue instead, that obesity is caused by a multitude of factors, ignoring their blatant role in the crisis. Processed foods are priced cheaper than whole foods, and many people cannot afford the inflated cost of fresh food. While many people argue that we cannot hold the food industry accountable for an individual’s choices in diet, it is still important to hold these companies accountable for their products and actions. If it is unfeasible economically, we cannot expect certain people to eat healthily.
The growing health crisis clearly warrants a change. The big food industry has been given too much leeway, to the detriment of people around the world. Greater calls for food regulations from the government, clearer and more transparent marketing, and nutritional programs for kids are all important steps we can take to achieve a happier, healthier future.
