McDonald's Fast-Food Company is Facing Legal Action

 

Broadcast: Jan 22 , 2003
By Jerilyn Watson

The McDonald's fast-food company is facing legal¹ action by people who say its food made them fat and sick. In New York City, legal action was recently brought against McDonald's and four other fast-food companies.

The lawsuits1 charge that these companies have not warned² people that this kind of food could be harmful. About one-hundred-seventy-thousand American fast-food restaurants sell food that is high in fat, sugar and calories³. They include potatoes cooked in oil and meat sandwiches called hamburgers. The restaurants also serve sweet soft drinks.

One man charged that this kind of food damaged his health. He said he had heart attacks and developed the disease⁴ diabetes⁵. Several families say their children got fat on fast food and also developed diabetes. One of these teenagers weighs one-hundred-eighty kilograms2.

Experts say Americans are now the fattest people in the world. Two years ago, the top government doctor reported an increase in the number of Americans who are too fat. David Satcher said almost sixty percent of American adults weigh too much. Doctor Satcher also said thirteen percent of American children are too fat. He said the fast-food industry, schools and government agencies⁶ should change their policies⁷. He said extreme⁸ overweight could become the nation's leading cause of preventable3 death.

A report published by the Center for the Public Interest says Americans spend about half their food budgets on meals eaten outside the home. Many eating places have increased the size of their servings. And it is difficult to know the amount of fat and nutrients4 in the food served in restaurants. Processed foods sold in food stores are required to include this information.

The food industry spends large amounts of money on advertisements to get people to buy their products. In nineteen-ninety-eight, for example, McDonald's spent about one-thousand-million dollars on ways to increase its business. McDonald's and Hershey Foods have given money to an international food organization to set up an Internet Web⁹ site. The goal is to get children to exercise more. But critics¹⁰ say the food industry is not doing enough to protect the public's health.

This VOA Special English Health Report was written by Jerilyn Watson.
1. lawsuit [5lC:su:t, 5lC:sju:t] n. 诉讼(尤指非刑事案件)
2. kilogram [5kIlE^rAm] n. [物]千克, 公斤
3. preventable [prI5ventEb(E)l] adj. 可阻止的, 可预防的
4. nutrient [5nju:trIEnt] adj. 有营养的

1 legal   

adj.法律的，依照法律的，合法的，法定的，正当的

参考例句：

• He is my legal adviser.他是我的法律顾问。
• This is partly a political and partly a legal question.这个问题部分是政治问题，部分是法律问题。

2 warned   

v.警告( warn的过去式和过去分词 )；提醒；告诫；预先通知

参考例句：

• Motorists have been warned to beware of icy roads. 已经提醒开车的人当心冰封的路面。
• I've warned her countless times. 我警告过她无数次了。

3 calories   

n.大卡( calorie的名词复数 )；千卡（食物所产生的能量单位）；卡路里；卡（热量单位）；卡路里，大卡路里( calory的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• No sugar for me, thanks—I'm counting my calories . 我不要糖，谢谢。我在控制摄取的热量。
• Her diet restricts her to 1500 calories a day. 她的规定饮食限制她每天摄入1500大卡热量。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 disease   

n.疾病，弊端

参考例句：

• The doctors are trying to stamp out the disease.医生正在尽力消灭这种疾病。
• He fought against the disease for a long time.他同疾病做了长时间的斗争。

5 diabetes   

n.糖尿病

参考例句：

• In case of diabetes, physicians advise against the use of sugar.对于糖尿病患者，医生告诫他们不要吃糖。
• Diabetes is caused by a fault in the insulin production of the body.糖尿病是由体內胰岛素分泌失调引起的。

6 agencies   

n.代理( agency的名词复数 )；服务机构；（政府的）专门机构；代理（或经销）业务（或关系）

参考例句：

• There are many specialized agencies in the United Nations. 联合国有许多专门机构。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The project is funded by the World Bank and other multilateral agencies. 这项计划由世界银行和其他多国机构资助。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 policies   

n.政策( policy的名词复数 )；策略；政府；策略性

参考例句：

• The Chancellor was forced into a humiliating climbdown on his economic policies. 财政大臣被迫狼狈地承认他的经济政策存在失误。
• an angry denunciation of the government's policies 愤怒谴责政府的政策

8 extreme   

adj.末端的，尽头的；极度的，极端的；n.极度，最大程度

参考例句：

• She lived on the extreme edge of the forest.她住在森林的最边缘。
• His views are rather extreme.他的见解相当偏激。

9 web   

n.网，蛛丝，蹼，织物，圈套，卷筒纸；vi.生蹼，形成网；vt.织蜘蛛网于，使落入圈套

参考例句：

• The spider weaves a web.蜘蛛织网。
• You mean the World Wide Web?你是说国际互联网？

10 critics   

n.批评家( critic的名词复数 )；评论员；批评者；挑剔的人

参考例句：

• He felt no animosity towards his critics. 他对批评他的人并不心怀怨恨。
• The move was widely seen as an attempt to appease critics of the regime. 普遍认为，这一举措是试图安抚批评政权的人。