Jessie Holder

English 1010
Stephanie Maenhardt

The Bare Necessities of Life

Many people in society say that weight gain from unhealthy foods is the
consumers fault, but what if the consumer has never been informed about the
nutritional value of food and there is no way for them to tell? In 2010 it became a
requirement for all fast food chains to post their nutritional information for their
foods; this excluded any seasonal or specialty items (Federal Drug and Food
Administration). The law says that the food labels should be displayed and easily
available, yet many of Utahs local chains to are unable to provide the information
and rely on values determined by their customers on unverified apps. (Marshall)
Though many individuals will go with a salad for a healthier option there are many
places where the salads are the unhealthiest items on the menu. Many will argue
that eating healthy is easy but with deceiving or under informing menus it would be
impossible to know for sure without the nutritional information. It is often argued
that it is the consumers job to know what is right or wrong to eat, but when the
current education system only requires one course of health it makes it difficult to
tell if the consumers actually do know the difference between healthy and
unhealthy eating. Although nutritional information may seem of a concern to only a
small percentage of Americans, it should in fact concern everyone. Nutritional
information and comprehension of that information are essential to living a healthy
lifestyle in todays era.

When Obama was put into office he worked to make nutrition labeling a
requirement for food chains and retailing locations, this was a small step in the right
direction. The FDA now requires that food chains with 20 or more locations have
their nutritional information posted on their menu boards at a minimum; this
includes any companies that own and operate 20 or more vending machines. Along
with the requirement to have 20 or more locations, the different locations must
have similar food items on the menus. The list goes on to include any retailer in
which food is prepared such as grocery stores or theaters. The nutritional
information is required for all foods on the menu including buffet style foods or
sides, however it is not a requirement if the food is a specialty item and is only
temporary. (Aubrey) The problem with this is that many of the individuals who
enjoy supporting the local community are being deprived of their right to make
informed and knowledgeable food choices. A fast food chain that chooses to stay instate and only requires 15 locations to meet their personal goals will never have to
provide valuable information when they could make up most of the states fast food
population.
After conducting a small investigation on a few of the local restaurants in the
state the follow through for the new regulations became apparent. Megaplex
Theatres was one of the culprits who had more than 20 locations with no nutritional
information posted on their menu boards. During an interview with the food court
manager from one of the locations he stated that they had no nutritional
information on their products. When asked if he knew when they would be getting it
since it is a new FDA law and he quickly became defensive saying that the company
had plans to do it eventually (Carlisle). This was the case at the local Zupas as well.
After finding no nutritional information regarding any of their items on their website,

menu or online; one of the managers was questioned regarding where one might
find said information. The manager at Zupas suggested an app called MyFitnessPal
that people had created calories for their recipes. In other words, Zupas has no
nutritional information available and their customers are supposed to rely heavily on
the accuracy of an app that allows anybody to create an item and enter any form of
nutritional information they please (Marshall). With the fast food industry increasing
their number of locations over the number of healthy options Americans are slowly
eating themselves into extinction.
There are many small urban areas that are lacking the ability to thrive off of a
healthy lifestyle because they are misinformed about their foods nutritional value.
Imagine a small town with one fast food chain restaurant and 4 local diners, these
individuals arent going to be able to make an informed decision 4 out of 5 times
they decide to go out to eat. It is also important to take into consideration the lack
of education and medical resources to many urban areas. Lacking the knowledge of
what is healthy or where their health is at will play a significant part in an
individuals ability to successfully monitor their personal wellbeing. The CDC
provides statistics from 2008 regarding how socioeconomics and education can
impact the obesity rates. The data concluded that of women who were in low
income households 42% were obese, these same statistics for men varied
depending on their ethnicity ranging from 28.5% to 44.5%. The other factors that
were noted to affect an individuals BMI were their education level. Women who had
a high school degree or less received a 42.1% obesity rate; with men we saw that
their percentages were fairly similar ranging from 27.4% to 32.1% (Center for
Disease Control).

Food education should be more extensive than the one semester course that
many students take in their middle school years. In one semester the teacher is
expected to touch on so many different topics that the principles of food health are
mentioned as if they are common sense and the quickly brushed under the rug.
When comparing one semester long class to the 13 years an individual is in school it
is a minuscule amount of time. By educating the nation on the importance of
healthy eating choices we can hope to help prevent or decrease the nations obesity
rate.
The FDA is required to perform regular audits to make sure that fast food chains
are labeling their food items appropriately, however the enforcement of the labeling
is difficult due to the lack of enforcers for the large amount of food industries
present. When the FDA receives a complaint they write an informal warning to the
business in violation. If they notice it again they write a second formal warning and
conduct an audit of the business. If a formal investigation is conducted and previous
warnings were not adhered to then the FDA may remove their ability to distribute or
produce anything. Though these seem like they may be simples steps, the process
of filing a formal complaint and the FDA following up, to the point where it would
require them to be shut down for not fixing, takes several months (Federal Drug and
Food Administration). Food industries across the nation should be working to help
provide products that will help to improve their consumers lives in all aspects not
just the mental satisfaction one could get from eating a large plate of cheese fries.
The food industry makes us believe that the cost of food testing to get nutritional
information is expensive, yet they have the ability to open five new locations within
months of each other with no problems. Maybe if the food industry spent more time
caring about their customers overall health and food opportunities, the dollars from

the 65.1% of Americans who arent struggling with obesity would help contribute to
their industry. (Center for Disease Control). The FDA may be limited on enforcers of
these laws but if everyone were to play a part in helping the transition then we can
potentially stop or slow the exponential growth in obesity.
The severity of the problem, that our nation is quickly becoming consumed
by, is not going to change without involvement from the governments and the
people. Everyones focus should be on what improvements can be made to their
diets to help the longevity of the human race. With obesity related health problems
being the number one reason for Americans deaths it is obvious that the education
system currently in place is not nearly informative enough (Lovitz). The government
needs to see the importance of having educated citizens and how it will benefit the
future of the nation.. Although the FDA has many other things to regulate their top
priority should be the nations over-abundance of non-labeled food items as well as
unlabeled food sales. By making nutrition information a requirement for all food
products sold in the US the government can help to provide the people the
information they need to be successful. Though many individuals will argue that
increasing the education and availability of nutritional information will not stop the
obese from picking up a cheeseburger, it is essential that you give them the tools to
be successful before you can expect success. In our nations case, nutritional
knowledge is the key to success.

Works Cited
Aubrey, Allison. The Salt . 24 November 2014. Online Journal Article. 04 10 2015.
Carlisle, Tye. Food Court Manager for Megaplex Theatres Jessie Holder. 04 10 2015.
Center for Disease Control. "Adult Obesity." 21 September 2015. Center for Disease
Control. http://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/adult.html. 07 10 2015.
Federal Drug and Food Administration. U.S. Food and Drug Administration. 09 07
2015. Online Q & A. 04 10 2015.
<http://www.fda.gov/Food/IngredientsPackagingLabeling/LabelingNutrition/uc
m248731.htm>.

Lovitz, Dara. "Food Labeling-RDs Who Know the Requirements Can Better Assist
Clients in Making Healthful Food Choices." Today's Dietian (2012): 52.
Marshall, Jonathon. Zupas Shift Manager Jessie Holder. 05 10 2015.