Snapple Beware

NY Observer on nutritionist Marion Nestle, who wants to be the "Dr. Ruth" of nutrition.

Her goal is to get people to share her fervent belief that food—and the so-called diseases of affluence like cancer and heart disease—are not just personal issues, but bona fide social and political problems. And the big, fat problem that no one but she seems to notice at the heart of the nation’s obesity crisis is, as she sees it, a gross oversupply of calories—not consumer demand. The reason is simple: Companies like Kraft and Burger King produce 3,900 calories of processed food daily for every person in the United States. That’s at least a third more calories than most people need. If we were to go on a national diet and not meet our allotted 3,900 calories, food sales—and stock prices—would dip, shareholders would get gloomy and the economy would flag. "In order to stay competitive, the food industry needs people to eat more," Ms. Nestle said. And so, of course, they do.