McDonald - The Arthur Page Society

demonisation of its core products over the past five years. You can spend millions on
CSR [corporate social responsibility] and community work, but that counts for very little
if burgers and fries remain 'evil' in the eyes of the public” (p. 15). 58
2. The Issue of Fast Food, Nutrition, and Health
The fast food sector has been right up there with the oil industry and tobacco
companies as a target for negative press. 59 In 2003, Fortune magazine even ran a cover
story asking, “Is fat the next tobacco? 60 Concerns about the nutritional content of fast
food have risen in concert with rising obesity rates. 61 The Executive Summary of the
“Calories Count: Report of the Working Group on Obesity” summarizes the problem: 62
Since the late 1980s, adult obesity has steadily and substantially increased in the
United States. Today, 64 percent of all Americans are overweight and over 30
percent are obese; in 1988 through 1992, fewer than 56 percent were overweight
and fewer than 23 percent of American adults were obese. The trends for children
are even more worrisome. Recent research by the U.S. Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention (CDC) shows that 15 percent of children and adolescents
aged 6 to 19 are overweight--double the rate of two decades ago. As Americans
get heavier, their health suffers. Overweight and obesity increase the risk for
coronary heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and certain cancers. According to some
estimates, at least 400,000 deaths each year may be attributed to obesity. 63
While there is no single cause for obesity, or single solution to reduce its incidence in
America, the FDA’s Working Group on Obesity suggests voluntary nutritional labeling at
the point of sale for restaurant foods so that consumers can accurately assess the amount
of calories and fat content. They also advocate that restaurants replace saturated, or
“trans” fats used in cooking oils with zero/mono and/or polyunsaturated fats, which do
not raise “bad” cholesterol (low density lipoprotein, LDL) and even have health benefits
when eaten in moderation. 64
Fast food chains have long been targeted as providing “junk food” high in calories
and trans fats, which thereby contribute to the growing problem of obesity and health
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