Blog#7

Americans spend most of their food budget on processed foods, all of which contains additives. Additives are substances added to food to preserve flavor and to enhance taste and appearance. Additives, once approved by the FDA are considered safe; however they are still not 100% safe. There are numerous side effects of additives for example, allergic reactions, linked to cancer, asthma, and even birth defects. You can’t prevent the many side effects additives have but you can avoid them, by eating fresh, unprocessed foods. Additives are a serious problem because we still don't know the long term effects and also the effects of combined additives because they are studied in isolation and not together. In order to be healthy in the long run, we need to avoid additives as a whole and not use/eat it.

Blog#8

Kangil Heo

Dr.Smith

English 101

24 April 2014

The government needs to step in and start regulating advertising of unhealthy food directed at children. The food industry uses smart marketing techniques to manipulate and take advantage of children. This is a serious problem to the children’s health and cannot be stopped even with the parent’s regulation over their child. In “Chapter 2: Your Trusted Friends” in Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser, the author focuses on the food industry and how they use advertisements to take advantage of children. For example, Kroc and Disney invent similar marketing strategies to manipulate children. Another example would be when I was a child; I was heavily influenced by advertisements and wanted a cotton candy machine. Advertisements directed at children, is a serious problem that even the parents have trouble dealing with.

Both Kroc and Disney were pioneers of child advertising. Kroc invented Ronald McDonald which was based on a clown, and made children think that McDonalds as a whole was their “trusted friend.” This kind of advertising lead to the serving of McDonald’s even at school lunches. This is why; the government needs to take control so these kinds of issues never occur again. Disney, invented Mickey Mouse and a new system called “synergy.” Synergy gave other companies the rights to use Disney characters. By doing this, Disney made an indirect correlation with unhealthy food and toys. Both Kroc and Disney made a fortune from advertising to children. However, it was unhealthy for the kids and very stressful for the parents as well. According to a New York Times article by Mark Bittman, “17 percent of kids in the United States are obese.” The government should definitely regulate child advertisement.

When I was around 7, I was also a victim of child advertisement. I saw a commercial about a cotton candy machine, and how you can make unlimited amounts of cotton candy using only sugar. I was so excited and begged my parents for one. They knew it was unhealthy and told me it was unhealthy but got me one anyways because I begged for it for days and days. Even though it is my parent’s responsibility to control what I eat, they also want to make me happy by getting me what I want. According to the New York Times by Mark Bittman, “It’s been reported that kids see an average of 5,500 food ads on television every year.” Children get fooled by advertisements all the time and I was also a victim. The government needs to regulate these advertisements to improve our society’s overall health.

The Fast food industry has millions of advertisements on television a day. Most of these advertisements are targeted at children. For example, what Kroc did with Ronald McDonald and how Disney used synergy. Also, how I was influenced by a cotton candy commercial. Even the parent’s don’t have choice because they want to give what their children want and make them happy. Therefore, the government needs to step in and take control of the advertising of unhealthy food directed at children to improve overall health.

Blog#6

Kangil Heo

Optimum Nutrition
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I personally have a lot of different brands that I use and not consistent with only one brand. I feel like even if the brand has a good reputation they might still have some bad products. However, the brand that I always buy no matter what is Optimum Nutrition. This is the only brand I trust after doing a considerable amount of research. Because these supplement companies, are not regulated by the FDA you need to do a lot of research for yourself and figure out if they’re reliable companies or not. I buy Optimum Nutrition’s products because it helps with my hobby/passion to a certain extent, which is Olympic weightlifting. I feel secure and see results when taking Optimum Nutrition’s products. You need to do research before you can use or trust that product. A lot of brands/companies can lie about their products. For example, most supplement brands/companies doesn't care about the quality about their product but all they care about is the number of sales. People would usually think the process of making a supplement is first starting with desired effect the supplement should have, finding study that would show results for the outcome, looking for the ingredients, creating the product, testing the product, and backing it up with several studies. But in reality, it looks more like this, Looking for a niche in the market, Analyzing the market and checking for demand, finding a model for the product, developing the product, building a claim that is defensible in the court, launching a marketing campaign, and creating and selling the product. Nobody cares whether something works or not. However, the marketing is so strong that if you are unaware of this stuff you start to think that you really need those supplements to get results. Even when I see an ad for a new supplement I have desire to buy it, it just sounds so good. Having a brand that you like or always buy is not a bad thing. However, there are a lot of brands you can trust or not trust. You need to do your own research and decide for yourself.