Complain about a product or service

Obesity Expert Calls Processed Food "Toxic"

Consumers Can't Be Blamed for Making Bad Choices When Nearly All Choices Are Bad

August 14, 2006

• CDC Launches Obesity Website • Modest Exercise Can Reduce Negative Effects of Belly Fat • Keep The Faith and Lose The Weight? • Families That Eat Together Means Kids Eating Better • New Factor in Teen Obesity: Parents • Possible Drug Target Found for Obesity Treatment • Weight Management Requires "Lifelong Commitment" • Obama Urged to Tackle Obesity • 5 Tips for Eating Right in 2009 • "All You Can Eat" A Ticket to Obesity • Sour Economy May Affect Eating Habits • Fast Food Has Fewer Calories Than Traditional Restaurant Meals • Gene May Make You Crave Fast Food • 'Western' Diet Increases Heart Attack Risk Globally • CSPI Raps Nickelodeon Food Ads • New Study Links Inactivity to Desire for More Food • Researchers Suppress "Hunger Hormone" • Parents Can Shape Childrens' Eating Habits • Overweight Doesn't Always Mean Unhealthy • Exercise in a Pill? • Study: 86 Percent of Americans Could Be Obese by 2030 • Americans Becoming Even More Obese, CDC Says • New Guide Lists Calories in Beer, Wine, Cocktails • Experts Fact-Check 'McDonald's Diet' Story • Dementia Linked To Obesity • Study Ties Obesity, Inflammation to Heart Failure • Doctor Offers Antidote To 'Super-Size Me' Diet • Eating Disorders Widespread Among U.S. Women, Survey Finds • Obesity A More Costly Workplace Health Issue Than Smoking • A 'Healthy Weight' May Not Be So Healthy • Skipping Breakfast May Lead to Obesity • Obesity Blamed for Rising Stroke Rate in Women • Spanish Language TV Linked To Latino Child Obesity • Fast Food+Sedentary Lifestyle=Liver Damage • Artificial Sweeteners Linked to Weight Gain • Mississippi May Ban Restaurant Sales to the Obese • Eat Less or Exercise More? • Researchers Find 'Fat-Burner' Compounds • Obesity Linked to Decreased Seatbelt Use • Low-Calorie Food Prices Surge • Italian Restaurants Serve Up the Fat • Viral Infections May Promote Obesity • Brits Find Obesity Deadlier Than Smoking • Healthy Restaurants May Bring Out Bad Eating Habits • 'Bad Carbs' Not the Enemy, Researcher Argues • New Pill May Make Weight Loss Safer --- • Weight Loss News • Childhood Obesity

A California pediatrician has added his voice to those blaming big food manufacturers for the worldwide obesity epidemic.

Writing in a scientific journal, Dr. Robert Lustig, of the University of California San Francisco, said today's processed food is loaded with sugars that alter the body's hormonal balance, creating a "toxic environment" and an "addiction" to food.

Lustig's theory is published in the latest issue of Nature Clinical Practice: Endocrinology and Metabolism.

Lustig's position is diametrically opposed to the industry and other advocates of personal responsibility, who say people make choices about the food they eat. Lutsig claims there are very few choices when almost all processed food is loaded with sugars that cause the body to believe it is always hungry.

According to Lutsig, consumption of sugar causes the body to step up its production of insulin. Insulin blocks hormones in the body that have the function of controlling appetite.

Lustig's practice is based at UCSF Children's Hospital. According to the hospital's Web site, he is a nationally recognized expert in the field of neuroendocrinology, with an emphasis on the regulation of energy balance by the central nervous system.

Lustig's prescription for the problem is not educating consumers about the dangers in processed foods but improving what he calls "the toxic environment." That means making drastic changes in the nation's food supply.

Lustig said he believes food manufacturers must change the way they make food products, refraining from adding sugar to bread, chips and condiments -- many items consumers don't normally associate with sweeteners.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, about two-thirds of American adults are overweight, and about one-third can be classified as obese. Obesity is defined as being 20 percent to 25 percent over the ideal weight for one's height.

Report Your Experience
If you've had a bad experience -- or a good one -- with a consumer product or service, we'd like to hear about it. All complaints are reviewed by class action attorneys and are considered for publication on our site. Knowledge is power! Help spread the word. File your consumer report now.