Fast Food in Ghana

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/10/opinion/fast-food-ghana.html

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To the Editor:

“When KFC Came to Ghana” (“Planet Fat” series, front page, Oct. 2) makes it clear that countries need regulations to intervene against Big Food. As a dietitian, I feel chills run down my spine as I read about nutrient-poor, foodlike products rising to fame in developing countries, including in Africa and Brazil.

It’s natural for companies like KFC to think of profits as they sell packaged foods and fried chicken, but we know how this story unfolds.

The United States spends 86 cents of every health care dollar, $2.3 trillion a year, to treat chronic disease. One in three American adults has or is at risk for developing Type 2 diabetes, one of the most ravaging and expensive diseases to treat.

Moderation rarely works in the face of fried chicken, milkshakes, French fries and soda, especially if these products are viewed as luxury commodities and infiltrated into mainstream food culture.

I tell patients to avoid them. We need thoughtful lawmakers in countries like Ghana to do the same.

SUSAN LEVIN, WASHINGTON

The writer is director of nutrition education, Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine.