GW law professor John Banzhaf can add another notch to his belt in his fight against McDonald’s, which announced plans last week to phase out its “super sizing” policy.
The billion-dollar corporation issued a press release last Tuesday stating that by the end of the year, it will no longer offer the super size options in an effort to simplify its operations. Currently, McDonald’s customers can pay extra money to “super size,” or increase their servings of, french fries and soda.
“McDonald’s said the major reason (for this change) is because they need more space on the cash register keyboard, but I think its baloney,” said Banzhaf, who has filed two lawsuits against McDonald’s in the past few years.
The first suit, which led to a $12.5 million settlement in 2001, argued that the eatery failed to disclose its use of beef fat in French fries. In February 2003, a court dismissed a suit that accused McDonald’s of contributing to obesity in children.
The chain’s 30,000 restaurants, which serve 47 million customers each day, will also feature a core menu to “provide a balance of choices” for consumers by the end of the year.
McDonald’s officials were unavailable for comment as of press time.
Banzhaf said the motivation behind McDonald’s recent change is the threat of additional lawsuits and the recent release of the documentary “Super Size Me.”
“‘Super Size Me’ pokes fun at McDonald’s and the role it plays in the obesity war,” said Banzhaf, who appears in the documentary, which was written and directed by Morgan Spurlock.
Spurlock, who weighed 180 pounds before shooting the documentary, decided to take McDonald’s up on its word that it is healthy to eat three meals a day at its restaurants, Banzhaf said.
“In one month he gained 25 pounds, his blood pressure and cholesterol shot up, he damn near died of liver failure, and both he and his girlfriend claimed that he was basically impotent,” said Banzhaf, who has also worked for restrictions on smoking advertisements and clearer warnings on birth control pills.
Arthur Frank, director of the GW Medical Center’s Weight Management Program, said fast food chains are “the culprit, not the cause” of obesity in America.
But Frank said that he is supportive of Banzhaf’s efforts to change fast food industry practices because it contributes to the widespread existence of obesity in the United States.
Obesity, or being extremely overweight, is a disease that affects more than 70 million Americans and causes at least 300,000 deaths in the United States each year, according to the American Obesity Association.
Banzhaf, who is working with McDonald’s’ advisory council, said he would like to see additional changes.
While nutritional information for McDonald’s food can be found on its Web site, some restaurants do not prominently display the fat content of its menu items, Banzhaf said.
In England, McDonald’s prints its nutritional information on food wrappers, and in France, the chain warns people not to eat there more than once a week, Banzhaf said.
