McDonald Ethics of Obesity

Management Mid-term Assignment

By:

Eka Darmadi / (3094802)

Faculty of Business and Economics University of Surabaya 2010

What is Obesity? Is a medical condition in which excess body fat has accumulated to the extent that it may had have an adverse effect on health, And increasing health problem. What Causes the Obesity? (Base on US Department of Health) 1. Lack of energy balance ( Energy in is bigger than Energy out ) 2. An inactive Lifestyle ( Like watching TV with lot of snack ) 3. Environment ( your lifestyle habits ) 4. Genes and Family history ( from your parent history ) 5. Health Condition ( Hormone problem ) 6. Pregnancy ( During the pregnancy woman always increase their weight ) 7. Lack of Sleep ( Less Sleep can cause obesity ) What the effect of Obesity? 1. Diabetes 2. Heart Disease 3. Stroke 4. High Blood Pressure 5. High Cholesterol 6. Certain Cancers 7. Sleep apnea 8. Osteoarthritis How avoid Obesity? 1. Management ( dont eat too Much ) 2. Dieting ( Consume Low Fat Food ) 3. Exercise ( Use Muscles to consume Energy ) 4. Weight Lost Program ( Lifestyle Changed and diet modification ) 5. Medication ( Use drug to reduces fat ) 6. Surgery ( Use Surgery to weight loss ) What We Can do about Obesity? The effective weight management for individuals and groups at risk of developing obesity involves a range of long term strategies. These include the prevention, weight maintenance, management if co-morbidities and weight loss. They should be part of an integrated, multi-sectoral, population base on approach, which includes environmental support.

Case: McDonalds targeted in Obesity Lawsuit The US fast food company industries and health campaigners are watching closely a lawsuit filed on behalf of several obese teenagers who claim the fast food company McDonalds is responsible for making them fat. The lawsuit, filed by lawyer Samuel Hirsch in a Manhattan federal court, alleges that McDonalds violated New York States consumer fraud statutes by deliberately misleading consumers into thinking their cheeseburgers and other products were healthy and nutritious. It says the company did not adequately provide information on the health risks associated with fast food, and the children developed health problems such as diabetes, high blood pressure, and obesity from eating its product. The mother of one of the children, who at the age 15 weighs more than 180 kilograms (400 Pounds), said in paper field before the court that I had always believe McDonalds was healthy for my son Another teenager ate every meal at McDonalds for three years while living in a homeless shelter, the associated press news agency reported. McDonalds Defense: Obesity Epidemic: People dont go to sleep thin and wake up obese Said McDonalds Lawyer Brad Lerman. The understanding and comprehension of what hamburgers and French fries do has been with us long, long time Impact of Fast Food in American: List of many fast food in America : McDonalds, Burger King, Wendys, and Kentucky Fried Chicken. Misled customers by enticing them with greasy, salty and sugary food. A recent assessment of obesity in the US found that more than half of all adult in Americans were overweight. About 54 million adults were classified as obese that is people who are about 15kg or more over the healthy norm based on height and hundreds of thousands of dead each year are attributed to obesity related diseases.

McDonalds Dilemma: In every fast food industries they have pass the test of nutrition and safe to eat, but in this case, people too love to eat fast food for example McDonalds. then after they eat a lot there, they dont want to get exercise, they just go sleep or doing small activities so they cant burn the calories. We know that the McDonald is very high calories and carbohydrate so when we must take care our body and not to blame McDonald, because in other fast food or usual food if we eat a lot can make obesities. No matter how healthy food are you consume but if you dont have the exercise you became get the effect of obesities. How McDonald defense the issue? 1. Providing More Vegetable and Food in Menu This day lot of people knows how the fast food is unhealthy food, McDonald has discovered this situation, if they dont add something Healthy they know they will die soon. McDonald provides Salads on their menu, to give more healthy food on people choice, as customer diet program. 2. Provide More Information to Customer Lot of our McDonald Customer, didnt know the right composites of our food calories, nutrition, etc. our food is safe to be consume if they know how to balance the nutrition, and by giving the information like the combination menu that we recommended to eat on breakfast, lunch, or dinner time. Because they are different. We put all of the diet information, and also tips to make you healthy. In our official website and everyone need to read it.

Base on this picture, not just McDonald or other fast food that make us obesity. Our regular breakfast for example, can make us obesity too, if we dont get exercise routine. Because if the body doesnt have a balance ( In and Out ) our body will get Obesity. For example if we eat to o much but less exercise our calories will become a fat in our body, and fat make us obesity. So the point here, is every food always have different nutrition and this our challenge to combine and make it balance in our bodies. Remember to consume in the certain level, Not too Much.

3. Playing Ground for Children

In Association with the National for sport and Physical education and the U.S Olympic Committee. Committee, we developed passport to Play, a fun way to keep kids minds engaged and bodies active created for 3rd 5th grades, the program introduces kids to the wide world of play through fun, active games they learn to play from 11 countries around the introduces kids to fruits and veggies from those 11 countries. Along with a well-balanced diet, the 2005 dietary guidelines for Americans from the U.S. Department of Health and human services and U.S Department of Agriculture recommends that kids get at least 60 Minutes of moderate physical activity, including active play, most days of the week.

4. Comprehensive & Strict Program: McDonalds Have a Comprehensive and strict program in place to ensure that all if its food, toys and promotional items are safe, and meet or surpass all government requirements. It is the most fundamental responsibility o f every McDonalds employee to follow all applicable safety and hygiene policies and procedures, and to report immediately any potential product or facility safety problem to management. Under business code of conduct, McDonalds must need to compute wit h the fair competition or antitrust laws to safeguard the right of consumers to the best product at the best prices. Entering into any formal or informal agreement or understanding with competitors that fixes, control, or affects prices, products, terms of safe, cost, profit or profile margins, market or market share are prohibited moreover, agreements or understanding with competitors to allocate customer or products, boycott suppliers or persons with whom they would transact businesses are resisted under the companys law.

My Recommendation to McDonald Stakeholder:

For Customer Site: 1. Read Carefully about the recommendation, eat too lot isnt good for our health. 2. Dont blame that fast food make lot of obesities, if you dont get exercise. 3. Get exercise one a week. 4. Learn to how become healthy. 5. Trust the McDonald Standard Quality. 6. Joint diet programs if needed. 7. Be aware of your health, and your family health.

For Corporation Site: 1. Be Transparent of all the ingredients of this food. Dont hide it from customer. 2. Give the direction, if your customer cant combine food menus. 3. Give lessons more to our customer so they know what to do. 4. Adds more healthy food. 5. Remove unhealthy ingredients from their menu. 6. Take Responsibility to your Customer, make them Happy. 7. Create something Green for our future Generation.

For Government: 1. Punish all the fast food industries when they dont meet Quality standard . 2. Give the better standard quality for company, so they can perform well. 3. Built the institution to observe all the food in the country. 4. Give Lesson for Society about healthy food or not. 5. Give opportunity for other company to create healthy food.

Hows to protect customer?

1. All the ingredients must pass the test and the result is Safe 2. Registered the product in local food institution to get the standard Quality 3. Corporation needs to inform the customer to be aware if they want to consume more. 4. The Lawsuit will give a punishment for the company which cant meet the requirement 5. in every company must have a customer care, so every complain can be handling. 6. Every parent must be a part to watch the situation & give report if they found something wrong.

Recommendation for all the fast food industries:

1. Actively follow and support state legislation aimed at limiting or prohibiting obesity lawsuit by contacting state legislators and supporting industry lobbying and public information campaigns.

2. Carefully avoid unsupportable advertising claims about the healthfulness, ingredient, or other nutritional qualities of food products. A false claim may provide the best basis for a successful case if the plaintiff can prove that the obesity or other health problems.

3. Monitor and support continuing research into the potential addictive or otherwise dangerous nature of fast food ingredients. Under existing law a supportable medical claim that fast food or an ingredient in it is addictive or inherently dangerous to human health may draw the necessary link to tobacco litigation if the consumers are not effectively warned about the known risk.

4. Promote and Support Public Information about health and the prevention of obesity.

5. Commentators have gone so far as to recommend that food companies begin to include warnings to consumers to eat their products in moderation.

Future Implementation:

At the future McDonald can expand their business not just in fast food industries but also in healthy food company. Adds more healthy menu for example nowadays some fast food company adds Pulpy Orange as additional for coke. At the future the healthy food become more popular than our current fast food. And McDonald must adapt with this situation or we only hear the story at the museum.

Conclusion: Well, McDonalds menu is good to be consume although many ingredients are not includes / hidden from customer but the state institution has already test the food and they already pass the test. So its safe to be consume but in certain levels. Government, Company and Customer need to have same view of healthy. Government must give the regulation to arrange all the fast food and have the standard requirement. And The Company need to have research whether their recipe is good enough or not, and innovate new healthy menu in their restaurant, and also the Customer need to be aware when they want to eat the fast food, customer need to be educated by media or internet or seminar to give the knowledge about the obesities issue. Who can protect the customer? The answer is the Government, the Company and the customer it shelf. We as customer must protect our family. And always aware that food are good to consume but at the certain level. Company also must know what the impact for their customer with their own formula, if there bad impact, its better for the company to add menu to balance the impact of their fast food. Who can protect us, if we dont know to protect our shelf? So as customer please learn lot how to become healthy form book, TV, News, Magazine, etc.

Base on this case, McDonald Stakeholder is wrong, because they just take care him/ her shelf without thinking the impact. Like McDonald adds some hidden ingredients in their menu, this will bad impact for their customer also the McDonald ethics.

References: All files are accessed @ October, 19, 2010 Using PT.Telekomunikasi

NHLBI - http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/dci/Diseases/obe/obe_causes.html MedTv - http://weight-loss.emedtv.com/obesity/health-effects-of-obesity.html BBC News - http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/2502431.stm Hub.Pages - http://hubpages.com/hub/Corporate-responsibility-Mcdonald-perspective McDonalds Web - http://www.mcdonalds.com/us/en/food/food_quality Entrepreneur - http://www.entrepreneur.com/tradejournals/article/163394871_4.html Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obesity