Hospitality
I choose to read the article: “The Two faces of the Food Industry”
I think it’s safe to say that the food and the Restaurant Industry are inexorably linked.
For the most part, the food industry produces the food that the restaurant industry serves
to the public and any changes or trends that food producer’s embrace might affect what
restaurants choose to offer on their menus.
The article highlights the fact that the food industry as a whole is conflicted; conflicted
because on one hand the industry has responded positively to charges leveled against it
that they (the food industry) are causing the obesity epidemic – but conversely, the
food industry is aggressively lobbying Congress for two laws that could be labeled
“Food Industry Protection Acts” These acts would gut state food- safety and food-
labeling laws. The industry’s top priority is the National Uniformity for Food Act.
The proposed law would require the food industry to identify food products that are
found to increase the risk of cancer or birth defects. Another protection act that the
industry would like to see instituted is called: “Commonsense Consumption Act” which
would stop people from suing food companies on the grounds that foods caused obesity
or an associated health condition such as heart disease or diabetes. Kentucky Fried
Chicken is the chief sponsor of this legislation, its Senate sponsor being Kentucky
Senator Mitch McConnell. On the KFC menu are “trans-fat-laden foods” which have
been proven to cause deadly heart disease.
Unfortunately there are still some food producers that are still resisting the idea
they are somehow morally or otherwise responsible for content of the food they
serve. Their attitude seems to be -- as long as it doesn’t kill them on the spot, we’re not
responsible for what happens to their health years down the line even though what we
serve to them has been...
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