Litzman vs McDonald's

Minister of Health Yaakov Litzman has come out against McDonald's. As Litzman said, "McDonald's out. Not in our country."

I don't think Litzman can ban McDonald's, though he can do whatever is in his power to discourage people from eating there. And McDonald's seems to be a symbol - a symbol of junk food, fast food that conforms to a low health barometer - and not the direct target.

Litzman spoke at a conference for cardiologists, and he was talking about preventing diabetes and improving health. He spoke about educating our children to not eat so much junk food, to not eat so much candy.

All that is good. It also can easily be coordinated with the Ministry of Educations new plan to minimize junk food served in schools and improve the quality of food served in schools. As of the coming school year, sweet drinks and various fat and sugar-rich foods, and processed foods, will be banned from school complexes. Sandwiches sold in schools will be made of whole wheat breads, cheeses and chumus will max out at 9% fat, and other health improvements.

So Litzman and Bennet and their respective offices can get together on the same page on this and work for real improvement in the eating habits of children.

The thing is, Litzman did not just talk about eating healthier foods. He pointed out McDonald's specifically. He did not mention other restaurants and food establishments selling unhealthy foods, like candy stores, like Burger Ranch, like ice cream shops, like other fast food chains, like burekas shops and bakeries selling pastries high in trans fats.

To that end McDonald's has issued a response saying Litzman is misinformed. They pointed out that McDonald's Israel has been on the forefront of improving health standards in food, such as listing nutritional information, such as removing trans fats from the french fries, such as lowering the fat content in their meats, such as encouraging more water drinking over sweet drinks, etc. McDonald's then questioned whether Litzman is targeting them for health reasons or if Litzman's real issue is that they are open on Shabbos. They did not mention it, but another reason to make them a target might be the fact that many of their branches are not kosher (and I know that in at least some of these places are not kosher only because they are open on Shabbos and not because the meat is treif or served with cheese).
sources; NRG, Kikar and Kooker

I am not going to defend McDonald's in this. I do wonder if Litzman is also going to work not just to get people in the general population to improve their eating habits and avoid places like McDonald's, or will he also create a program for the religious and especially the Haredi community to improve their eating habits. Will he come up with a separate campaign targeting cholent, gala and fatty brisket and discourage people from eating these foods, and maybe getting out to exercise a bit more? Will he encourage people in the frum communities to use less oil and sugar in their foods (especially in the foods served in schools), to eat less burekas and rugelach, to not give out so much candy in the nursery and kindergarten schools? That would be just as praiseworthy as a general campaign to get people to eat healthier.

It is also interesting that this announcement came at pretty much the same time Burger King announced that they are returning to Israel and opening some new locations. At least the first two locations opening are kosher and in Tel Aviv. In other words, even if Litzman's battle against fast food is honest and true, it is going to be an uphill battle.

I particularly liked Litzman's comment that he knows there are people who don't like this, there are big companies that don't like it, but "I don't have primaries, and I am the number 1 in my party. I chose the health Ministry because I thought this is the best place in which I can help save people". In other words, Litzman can't be pressured or bought off.

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