A recent episode of WBUR radio’s On Point with Tom Ashbrook discussed a major new policy debate: can big food be sued in the way big tobacco was? On the surface, many would say no, but others disagree. Ashbrook hosted guests on both sides of the debate.
The success in suing big tobacco came when states succeeded where individual smokers had failed. Tobacco companies had been able to tell individual smokers “no one forced you to smoke” but states were required to pay for Medicare and Medicaid for smokers. Now, some lawyers want to try a similar argument for the new major health epidemic: obesity.
But wait you say, there is nothing like nicotine in food, and people must eat. They do not have to smoke. Absolutely true. Critics of big food, however, note what foods get advertised on TV and what gets marketed to children: junk food, Doritos Locos Tacos and soda. They also cite the success of food engineers. The New York Times recently posted a breakdown of the Nacho Dorito and how every aspect of the experience of eating Nacho Doritos was calibrated perfectly to be amazing. Scientists invented them to be perfect snacks that override biological limits on eating.
For example, scientists designed foods that do not make the eater feel full. Several articles have been written about the concept of vanishing caloric density, the experience of eating a lot of calories without filling up. For example, if you ate 2,000 calories of steak, you would feel like you gorged. Eating 2,000 calories of cheetos, on the other hand: easy. Cheetos are designed to be crunchy and satisfying to bite into, but then the volume disperses so the eater does not feel full. This is the magic of vanishing caloric density.
However, none of that science proves necessarily that big food companies hold responsibility for America’s obesity epidemic. As of yet, no state has begun the lawsuit, so there has been no discovery process. In the tobacco lawsuits, many documents came out showing years of cover-up concerning the bad health effects of smoking. Big food is different. Few are unaware that a Doritos Locos Taco does not qualify as health food. However, proponents of the lawsuit say there can be a proportional answer: if big food companies are 15 percent responsible, they can pay 15 percent of the cost.
As health care costs increase, states may try this route. According to the American Heart Association, 18 percent of boys and 15 percent of girls ages 2-19 were obese in 2013, a portion of the 23.9 million overweight children. The percentages for adults are even worse. Thus, that 15 percent could be a massive sum of money.
This lawsuit would be a risky move, and I am not yet sure how I feel about it. But looking at what percentage of citizens are overweight and obese, I could see how a state attorney general would decide to roll the dice and go for it.