Food Industry

The companies manufacturing processed foods are the same companies selling weight-loss programs, creating a fundamental conflict of interest. The food industry is not the primary cause of the obesity epidemic, but functions as an enabling condition. Reformulating processed food recipes or fast food menus is insufficient at the scale of the obesity problem. Unilever owns Slim-Fast while simultaneously owning ice cream brands Klondike Bars and Ben & Jerry's. Starting in the 1970s, food companies began acquiring diet and weight-loss brands to profit from both causing and treating overconsumption. Big sugar is presented as a major example of organized industry influence. Fat phobia fundamentally changed how food manufacturers formulate products. Food companies influenced legislation to shield themselves from lawsuits related to processed food side effects. Low-fat and non-fat yogurts require sugar addition to be palatable. The food and beverage industry played a structural enabling role in the obesity epidemic through hyper-palatable products, child-targeted marketing, and engineered portion sizes. The article characterizes the sugar industry's effort as intentional and organized. The…