A Political History Of Ketchup
jonathan | 15.02.2002 05:29
''Pork-barrel politics are nothing new to Marion Nestle. When she moved to Washington, D.C., in 1986 to help craft the first Surgeon General's Report on Nutrition and Health, she was told point-blank that the report could not recommend that Americans eat less meat, sugar, or--for that matter--any other food....''
Fortune Magazine: How much does Enron's access to high-ranking government officials remind you of the food industry?
Marion Nestle: Been there, done that. The food industry is no different. One of the most famous incidents was when the CEO of a sugar company called and interrupted a tryst between President Clinton and Monica Lewinsky. He called on a holiday and got put right through to the President.
Fortune: You claim that the U.S. produces 3,800 calories per day per person--twice what we need. Where's all that food going?
Nestle: The data on activity show that people are as sedentary now as they were 15 years ago. But people are eating more, and so it's going to their waistlines.
Fortune: Can't individuals control what they eat?
Nestle: One of the things that surprises me is how ubiquitous food marketing is and how little it is noticed. Larger portions are brilliant marketing. There's something about human psychology--if a lot of food is put in front of us, we eat it. People who believe our eating habits are a question of individual free will are much, much stronger than I am.
Fortune: What are some of the craziest food health claims that have been made?
Nestle: Where did anybody get the idea that ketchup could cure cancer? They also tried to get ketchup declared a vegetable in the school lunch programs. Someday I'm going to write a political history of ketchup.
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jonathan