New additions to fast-food menus and a recent documentary have added to the national debate about whether the fast-food industry has a responsibility for the long-term health of its customers.
However, the debate over the responsibility of the fast-food industry is anything but resolved.
The question as to the industry's civil liability came to the national consciousness in 2002 as two New York teenagers filed suit against fast-food giant McDonald's on charges that the restaurant chain was responsible for their obesity, diabetes, high cholesterol and other ailments. While the case was dismissed by a lower court in September 2003, a federal appeals court decided last Wednesday to revive the lawsuit, according to the Agence France-Presse.
Much of the media attention to fast food has been amplified with the 2004 release of the film "Supersize Me," in which filmmaker Morgan Spurlock ate McDonald's food exclusively for a month. The film showed Spurlock's health degrading through the month, of which included gaining 24.5 pounds, a 7 percent increase in body fat, doubled risk of heart disease, and significant increases in cholesterol and triglycerides.
Second-year College student Kevin Chang said the documentary made him reconsider and curtail his regular fast-food meals, which he previously ate two to three times a week.
"It makes you question your eating habits," he said. "I was shocked to see the effect of what McDonald's can do to you in even just one week, let alone one whole month. I'd just eat there if I was hungry and on the run. I thought of it as a quick alternative to cooking
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