The hunger for profit.

• Author: Assadourian, Erik
• Position: Book Review

Marion Nestle, Food Politics: How the Food Industry Influences Nutrition and Health (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2002).

After reading Food Politics, I visited a local McDonald's restaurant to see for myself how food companies are influencing eating habits. Over the course of an hour I watched more than 200 people eat lunches that consisted mostly of burgers, fries, and soda. I was surprised to find that, according to my tally, the average meal consisted of a large--not a "supersized"--meal, even though the latter provided an extra 170 calories for just 39 cents. When I asked one customer why he didn't supersize, he told me that he knew his limits: "I can't eat that many fries and the drink is, like, gigantic."

Leaving the restaurant I felt hopeful that the premise of Food Politics, that "the food industry influences health and nutrition," was more vitriol than reality. That is until I read the McDonald's "Nutrition Facts" website. After a few calculations, it became clear that eating an average medium-sized meal (let alone the large or supersized) would provide more than half a day's 2,250 suggested calories and two-thirds of the daily recommended intake of fat--not the most healthy meal choice one could make. Yet, each day 45 million people make similar choices in 29,000 McDonald's restaurants around the world.

These dietary choices affect health. Worldwide, one in six people is overweight or obese. In the United States, more than three in every five adults are overweight or obese, according to a report released last year by the U.S. Surgeon General. These conditions, which lead to heart disease, diabetes, and many cancers, were associated with approximately 300,000 U.S. deaths in 2000--not far below the 400,000 deaths connected with smoking during the same year.

What has led to this obesity epidemic? Simply put, calories consumed exceed calories burned. Ninety-seven percent of Americans do not maintain a balanced diet, while fewer than a third exercise enough. Food Politics does not tackle the causes behind sedentary lifestyles, but it offers some insights as to why so many people are overeating, starting with the food industry's "imperative to encourage people to eat more in order to generate sales and increase income in a highly competitive marketplace."

Like any industry, food companies are under intense pressure to satisfy shareholders by maximizing earnings. Companies employ sophisticated marketing campaigns and produce...