New at Reason

David Weigel | August 18, 2006

Jacob Sullum makes short work of the fat-o-phobes making a stink about keeping trans fat off the menu.

Comments

|8.18.06 @ 1:45PM|#

If the Democrats were in power, perhaps the anti-KFC crowd would push for legislation to regulate the fa[s]t food biz. I knew there was an upside to the Bush Administration.

|8.18.06 @ 1:50PM|#

So what are we to make of Arthur Hoyte, a retired physician from Rockville, Maryland, who is suing KFC because he thought fried chicken was a health food? In a lawsuit sponsored by the Center for Science in the Public Interest, Hoyte claims he had no idea the restaurant chain fries its food in partially hydrogenated vegetable oil. �If I had known that KFC uses an unnatural frying oil, and that the food was so high in trans fat, I would have reconsidered my choices," he says.

Well, he's no brain surgeon, that's for sure.

KipEsquire|8.18.06 @ 2:06PM|#

The (potential) problem is that a few years back KFC did indeed briefly try to suggest in its advertising that fried chicken was in fact "healthy."

So this one gets a resounding "yeah, but..."

|8.18.06 @ 2:10PM|#

So I take it Jacob Sullum is against all food labeling?

|8.18.06 @ 2:17PM|#

Actually, Jacob Sullum said that KFC has info on the fat content in their restaurants. I think Jacob Sullum is against people suing over choices that they made when adequate information was made available to them.

If Dr. Hoyte's dietary ignorance carried over into his medical career, can his patients sue him for malpractice?

This could be fun.

|8.18.06 @ 2:34PM|#

I have occasionally eaten at KFC and McD's. They are both ghastly. Anyone who would consider that stuff healthy [with or without a 'nutrition guide'] are too stupid to be taken seriously. Unfortunately, they do have the ALMIGHTY vote.

People who eat that stuff regularly DESERVE to have coronaries. I'm sure their last words are "It's not my fault."

|8.18.06 @ 2:47PM|#

This logic can literally apply to everything. I shouldn't drive with the "check engine" light on? Sure it's in the manual to pull the hell over, but I didn't look there so it isn't relevant.

I think the best thing that the forces of common sense could do if any of these type of lawsuit were to ever gain a foothold would be to sue spinach growers for foisting a product on us that contains *gasp* calories... But it's supposed to be healthy!

Dan T.|8.18.06 @ 3:09PM|#

People who eat that stuff regularly DESERVE
to have coronaries. I'm sure their last words are "It's not my fault."

Of course, anything bad that happens to anybody could be considered his or her fault, because if they were smarter they could have avoided it.

|8.18.06 @ 3:15PM|#

I love the way these jerks play with language. "Trans hydrogonated fat" sounds so menacing. "My God Jane, there is transhydrogenated fat in our children's food. What will we do?" It is Cyrsco folks. But "we are making war on the dreaded threat of Crysco because no one knew that Crysco was bad for you" is about one step above stopping the communist plot of florinated water.

Larry A|8.18.06 @ 3:19PM|#

I think the best thing that the forces of common sense could do if any of these type of lawsuit were to ever gain a foothold would be to sue spinach growers for foisting a product on us that contains *gasp* calories... But it's supposed to be healthy!

Not only that, but the spinach consortium is represented by Popeye, a superhero cartoon character who actively advertises spinach as the healthy source of his superior Bluto-defeating strength and Olive Oil-inspiring sex appeal. Open-and-shut!

Dan T.|8.18.06 @ 3:25PM|#

One other thing that bugs me about this whole debate is our recent (I think) tendency to classify foods as "healthy" or "unhealthy".

I mean, all food is "healthy" in the sense that it provides energy and nutrition to the body. Otherwise, it would not be considered food.

At the same time, all food is "unhealthy" if you eat it to excess or fail to eat a balanced variety of it. Whatever you think of KFC, eating some of their food for dinner tonight is not going to hurt you.

The bigger issue, I think, is when you are looking at patterns of eating over the long-term and by large groups of people. And when you do that, it's hard to deny that as a culture we have (or at least are heading towards) a failed nutritional system.

What to do about it, I'm not so sure.

|8.18.06 @ 3:25PM|#

Context:
The rather obese (Romanian?) child pictured in the 'headline' spot of Reason, is not simply obese. He and his brother are suffering from a rare disease which has nothing to do with eating at McDonalds.

I remember reading about it some months back, but I doubt I could find the article for yous.

Timothy|8.18.06 @ 3:43PM|#

This is why I only eat Hostess Snack Cakes rather than the Little Debbie knockoffs. Hostess still fries in good old 100% lard. Little Debbie changed to vegetable shortening at some point, and I need to do my best to stay toward the more healthy end of the 500-calorie fried-pie genre.

|8.18.06 @ 4:21PM|#

"Of course, anything bad that happens to anybody could be considered his or her fault, because if they were smarter they could have avoided it."

There is a difference between accepting the consequences of one's actions [or failure to act] and trying to foist the burden of those consquences onto someone else.

Every adult in North America and Western Europe has been made aware that things like smoking cigarettes, eating fatty food, or riding a bicycle at night without a light is not good for one's health.

Yes, the tobacco companies probably lied about the risks, but since the Surgeon General's report in 1965, no reasonable adult could conclude that smoking was innocuous or healthy. {My take on the tobacco executives swearing in front of the Congressional Committee that they thought nicotine was not addictive: Anyone who really thinks nicotine is not addictive is too stupid to be allowed to run a billion-dollar corporation.}

The risks of a fatty diet have been repeatedly discussed in the media. Even if many claims against fast food are overblown, it is unreasonable for someone to claim that they were unaware of the risks.

I included the example of riding a bike at night without a light because 60 Minutes ran a story about a guy who did exactly that & got injured in an accident. He then sued the bicycle manufacturer for not putting a warning label on the bike saying it was unsafe to ride at night without a light. [As I recall, the 60 Minutes story said he won, but the manufacturer was appealing.]

Finally, I would say yes, to some degree, every adult is at least partly responsible for what happens to him or her. If an asteriod hits where I'm standing, I chose to stand in that spot. Besides, who am I going to sue? NASA? Space Aliens? God?

|8.18.06 @ 4:23PM|#

I like KFC and McD's. I know now and always knew that it's high in fat and calories but eat there anyway (yeah, just waiting for a coronary - it'll probably cut my life short at 83 or so) because I like to eat there. I liek that food. Here's the point: If I want to eat more healhty meals then I simply choose not eat there.

Goddam Food Nazis!

|8.18.06 @ 4:55PM|#

And when you do that, it's hard to deny that as a culture we have (or at least are heading towards) a failed nutritional system.

I think the bigger problem is assuming everything is a system or ought to be one.

|8.18.06 @ 4:55PM|#

If Bush can claim victory over Hezbollah, what's the problem with KFC saying it's healty food.

|8.18.06 @ 5:10PM|#

1. This is a truly amazingly silly lawsuit, for all sorts of reasons.

2. My utterly worthless opinion is that the best things the Fat Police could do to prevent or reduce obesity is to sponsor cooking and exercise classes. Simply by teaching people to make their own meals, which necessarily involves better control over the ingredients and portion sizes, as well as getting their fat butts off the sofa, will improve the American diet. Also, at least in my experience, activity level is far more important in determining health than fat intake. Getting people to move around more will improve our health more than anything else. My grandmothers lived on bacon fat but were constantly active farm women. One died at 89 and the other at 97.

Ron Hardin|8.18.06 @ 5:28PM|#

I should photograph the McDonald's healthy food handout I picked up in the early 80s, I guess.

I added a Lacoste allegator to the wholesome food picture and hung it in the kitchen, where it's been ever since.

|8.18.06 @ 6:21PM|#

It's definitely "in the public interest" to have the idiots who consume enough KFC to harm themselves die early. Leave it to the market.

|8.18.06 @ 6:47PM|#

"The public interest" is irrelevant.

The problem is that every one of us, as individuals, must pay extra for the goods and services we consume in order to cover the insurance and litigation costs imposed by those who will not accept responsibility.

|8.18.06 @ 7:31PM|#

I grew up as a fat kid (Have since lost the weight, THANK GOD) but went through years of abuse at school before that. The people suing fast food companies are adults expected to make their own decision. I, on the other hand, was a child and fat before I even knew what caused people to be fat.

Do I have a case against my mother? I mean seriously, has this ever been tried?

|8.18.06 @ 8:10PM|#

Grand Chalupa

That you ask such a question means you're still fat and irresponsible on the inside. Grow up.

|8.18.06 @ 8:19PM|#

Oh no, fat on the inside? You don't say. Have I not been working out my internal organs enough?

Alex|8.19.06 @ 12:54PM|#

" In a lawsuit sponsored by the Center for Science in the Public Interest, Hoyte claims he had no idea the restaurant chain fries its food in partially hydrogenated vegetable oil."

So pretty much if food is deep fried it doesn' t matter what it's fried in the fact is it's deep fried. I don't think changing the oil it's fried in makes that big of a difference. It's still gross and full of artery-clogging substance. yum yum

|8.19.06 @ 5:34PM|#

So are you guys saying that I shouldn't have eaten a 27 ounce burger last night for dinner? There was no warning posted...clearly I should sue them.

|8.19.06 @ 11:29PM|#

Groups like CSPI like to present themselves as fighters for the little guys against the evil corporate fast food companies. Yet, when it comes to publicising nutritional information, it's those same fast food chains that do the best job. I've seen nutritional pamphlets in almost every McDonalds that I've been to and, as the article mentioned, all this info is available on each chain's corporate website. In fact it's usually much more difficult to get nutritional info at the small family-owned diners, hot-dog concession stands and traditional sit-down restaurants. And it will be they who will face the greatest costs and inconvenience if these activists groups ever get their demand that every eatery publish detailed info on fat and calorie content.