Snack Food Makers

Fox News reports that some makers of snack foods are improving the healthiness of their snacks in response to pressure from the government and threat of lawsuits.  This article highlights the tug-and-pull of the free market system on the one hand versus the role of government through regulations and lawsuits to force a private company to take a certain action.

The challenge, says the article, is to balance healthier ingredients and consumer taste.  Consumers do not typically buy the low-calorie snacks because they don’t taste as good as the unhealthy version. 

One parent cited in the article blames marketing ploys for attracting her children to the unhealthy products. “Real food loses its seductiveness,” the mother complains.

Some segments of our society definitely seem to be voicing opposition to the unhealthiness of the offerings in the snack food industry.  I do not believe that means that society as a whole is getting “smarter” regarding snack foods; the minority may be becoming louder.  The fact is that our society is more overweight than it has ever been.  Our diet and modern conveniences that discourage movement are to blame.  There is some blame to be had by Big Food Industry.  They have allowed science to replace food.  Ingredients we cannot begin to pronounce have replaced real food. A movement back to real food with real ingredients and not science experiments can only be a good thing for society.  It is doubtful, however, that the industry will succeed in this because the industry will sell what people will buy.  Only when the people choose to buy healthier food will the industry be successful in selling healthier food.

Can anyone in our society believe that it is better to eat Cheez-Its than an apple? 

Or a poptart instead of oatmeal? Or cola instead of water?  No, of course not.  Few people in America would think those scientific foods of Big Food Industry are healthier or better for you than the real food alternatives.  We eat them because they are easier, because marketing efforts help us fool ourselves that they are not-so-bad, and they fuel our addiction to sodium-laden carbs.  Consequently, we as a society are fat.

Parents are also to blame.  Only a parent can teach their child to prefer peaches over snickers.  It is not Dora the Explorer’s fault that the child eats sugar cereal.  It is the parent’s fault.  Only the parent’s fault.  If the child is attracted to the colorful marketing, either turn off the tv during the advertisements or use those opportunities to teach the child the fallacies of glossy commercials.

Overall, this article shines a spotlight on our society’s desire to Blame – blame the government for failing to regulate snack food, blame the makers of snack food for making it taste good, blame the advertisements for making the kids want to eat it -- all through the threat of litigation and lawyers. (I’m a lawyer and I’m saying this!) In reality, we are each to blame for voting with our dollars and buying Cheez-its instead of apples.