Skip to content
Health
Link copied to clipboard

Did the food industry buy your kid?

As marketing tactics from Facebook to "advergames" blur the line between advertising and entertainment, parents' attempts to monitor their children’s food preferences become more difficult.

The op-ed, it turns out, was written by a former food industry insider, Kraft Foods executive Michael Mudd. Mudd had left the industry when he could no longer accept, as he called it, "a business model that put profits over public health." Mudd argues that it is big food processors and soft drink companies who are the most culpable for the growth in obesity. "Over the years, relentless efforts were made to increase the number of eating occasions people indulged in and the amount of food they consumed at each. Even as awareness grew of the health consequences of obesity, the industry continued to emphasize cheap and often unhealthful ingredients that maximized taste, shelf life and profits," he wrote.

So what's the harm? Shouldn't companies have the right to advertise their products in a free market or promote large portion sizes? Companies claim they are not creating demand, but simply responding to it. After all, isn't it the parents' role to monitor kids' food choices and spending?

Meanwhile, selling kids foods high in calories and low in nutrition continues to be big business.

Nan Feyler is chief of staff for the Philadelphia Department of Public Health.

Read more about The Public's Health.