Introduction
Business enterprises are normally under scrutiny of authorities such as government bodies. Such regulations, however, vary from one industry to another depending on the nature and sensitivity of the industry. The tobacco industry is an example of a strictly regulated industry by governments. This paper seeks to determine whether the fast food industry should be regulated as the tobacco industry is. The paper will look into regulations in the tobacco industry and the nature of the fast food industry that may call for similar regulations as in the tobacco industry with the aim of identifying the need for similar restrictions.
Regulations in the Tobacco Industry
The tobacco industry is under strict regulations regarding its sales, access, advertisements among other elements. There are, for instance, restrictions over the access of tobacco to youths and children as provided for by legislations in nations such as in the United Kingdom. Similarly, advertisements that relates to tobacco are also regulated with much restrictions in Britain that limits such sales initiatives to the locations at which the products are being sold. This means that information on tobacco to the restricted age groups, youths and children, is restrained thus further controlling access. Another important element of the regulations in the tobacco industry is the health warning that is required from the producers. As a statutory requirement, this warning is in most territories required to cover a significant portion of the tobacco cover so as to make the information clearly visible to potential users. In the United Kingdom for instance, at least thirty percent of either sides of the cover must be covered by such warnings. There are similarly regulations with respect to the contents of tobacco as well as a global initiative through a World Health Organization treaty that aims at setting standards for regulating tobacco usage. Such regulations, as witnessed in the UK are similarly observed globally to protect the general public from the health risks that are associated with tobacco consumption (Ash Facts 1). Legislations in the United States of America such as “family smoking prevention and tobacco control act” (FDA 1) among others also offer regulations over tobacco.
The fast food industry
Like tobacco, fast foods are faced with a number of factors that makes them a potential source of health risks. Fast foods have been found to have particular dangers to the human body. Their composition that is majorly “fat, refined sugars, gross amount of sodium and countless carbohydrates” (Mels 1) particularly weakens body’s self defense mechanism. As a result, health is put at risk due to poor resistance to diseases. Some of the component of the foods, especially inorganic matter at the same time identifies with causing problems in the digestive system. Excessive fats and high levels of cholesterol that are found in the fast foods also make them harmful to people’s life through destabilizing the immune system (Mels 1).
According to Kyani Oahu, fast foods have stimulating effects on the brain that make them similar to tobacco in terms of their impacts. There is an identified trend of impaired response to environmental factors based on consumption of fast food and a corresponding addiction that forces increased consumption of the type of food by people who have indulged in them (Oahu 1). The effects of fast food that led to a legal suit against a fast food company, McDonald of New York, due to wide spread obesity of children who had consumed the company’s fast food products is a land mark case that highlights the importance of establishing regulations in the industry. One of the basic reason for such regulation is the fact that a producer should legally owe its customers a duty of care, and obligation that ought to be expressly stipulated in order to safeguard the plight and fundamental rights of consumers (Mello, Rimm and Studdert 1).
There are also a number of other similarities that exist between tobacco and fast food that calls for similarities in regulations of the two industries. Some types of fast foods are particularly associated with some dangers that are known to the producers but not to potential consumers. For this reason, producers are supposed to be obliged to disclose such information to their buyers. Consumers would then be liable for choices made based on warnings over the fast foods (Mello, Rimm and Studdert 1). Application of additives such as “colorants, emulsifiers and anti oxidants” (Jacobs and Scholliers 274) among others that are used in fast foods have also in history been identified to be harmful to human health. The production process of these foods at the same time only ensures minimum measures with respect to the safety of customers from possible dangers. Governments are thus left with the responsibility of stepping in to protect consumers (Jacobs and Scholliers 274).
Conclusion
There exist a lot of similarities between the two industries with respect to their sensitivity to human health. Factors such addiction as well as dangers posed to lives, being common in both, make it necessary for the fast food industry to be regulated in the same way the tobacco industry is regulated.
Works Cited
Ash Facts. Tobacco regulation. Ash Organization, 2011. Web.
FDA. Tobacco products. FDA, 2011. Web.
Jacobs Marcos and Scholliers Peter. Eating out in Europe: picnics, gourmet dining, and snacks since the late eighteenth century. New York, NY: Berg, 2003. Print.
Mello Michelle, Rimm Eric and Studdert, David. (2003). The McLawsuit: The Fast-Food Industry and Legal Accountability For Obesity. Content Health Affairs, 2003. Web.
Mels Life. Fast food. Melslife, 2011. Web.
Oahu, Hyani. Dangers of fast foods part 2: addiction. Kyanioahu, 2011. Web.