Critical Thinking Evaluation - Group 1

Don't Blame the Burgers - The USA Today

● There are 4 members in our group: Thanh Thảo, Trà Mi, Thảo Ly, and Phương
Linh.
● In our presentation, we will include 5 parts:
1. Summarizing the article
2. Indicating premises
3. Analyzing arguments
4. Evaluating arguments and truth claims
5. Conclusion
● Introduction + the argument’s background information:
Today we’re going to talk about an interesting topic, it is “ Fast Food”. Fast
food is one of the most consumed items in the United States. Fast food is quite
diverse, including some popular types such as fried chicken, burgers, and chips. The
average American eats at least one fast-food meal a day. Because fast food is
delicious, cheap, and very convenient, they consume it a lot. However, the worrying
problem here is that many people are obese. The recorded data has shown that two-
thirds of the population in the US is obese, and the main cause is due to consuming
too much fast food daily. The Americans immediately sued the fast-food chains for
making them fat by stating that these fast-food restaurants had deceived the customers
about the nutritional information of their products. One of the major lawsuits that
cannot be ignored is “McDonald’s made-me-fat” which has caused a lot of
controversy and discussion for a very long time. And USA Today has an article titled
“Don’t blame the burgers”, written about this problem. Through this article, we will
have a more dimensional view of the issue. By applying Critical Thinking, our group
will analyze and evaluate this argument, then find out the wrong and right sides of the
article’s point of view regarding the problem. So don’t make you guys wait any
longer; let’s get started with our presentation today.

1. The Article Summary:

The 'victims' of obesity in America today blame McDonald's for the cause of their
health issues. The majority of Americans believe that McDonald's and other fast-food
businesses are to blame for the health issues associated with obesity. To defend their
health problems, these fast-food consumers launch lawsuits. Five out of eight cases
have been successful in getting these fast-food chains to improve their nutritional
reporting.
“Nobody is forced to eat at McDonald's’’- a federal court dismissing the complaint
that year declared, emphasizing that the United States of America is a free nation.
According to "The USA Today", anyone who eats meals from fast-food companies
like McDonald's, has to take responsibility for their own health issues. The law cannot
protect them from doing anything they are not compelled to do. And this statement
has a solid following among Americans.
=> Our group’s opinion towards the USA Today article’s view:
From our perspective, USA Today's argument for this conclusion is weak, dubious,
and controversial.

2. Indicating Premises:
● The USA Today’s basic arguments can be summarized as follows: (total 16
premises)
1. Personal responsibility, not a "fat" lawsuit, is the solution to the obesity issue.
2. Nobody is forced to eat at McDonald’s.
3. The lawyers who regard food as their next cash cow are serious when it comes
to the McDonald's lawsuit.
4. The attorneys agree that their objective is to hold food companies liable for a
significant portion of the $117 billion in annual public health expenses related to
obesity through class-action lawsuits.
5. The health problems that Americans are facing from consuming fast food have
turned into a profit of $117 billion on annual public health costs related to obesity.
6. Thus, this is an advantage for the government and the lawyers who fight for the
fast food companies. (from 4,5)
7. As a result, the government and the attorneys who fight for the fast-food firms
stand to benefit. (from 6)
8. McDonald’s has phased out its Super Size program.
9. Mascot Ronald McDonald’s visits elementary schools to promote fitness, not
burgers.
10. More nutritional information is displayed on the restaurants’ Websites.
11. Food companies are responding to health findings and consumers’ demands.
(from 8,9,10)
12. All 1,500 Applebee’s offer Weight Watchers meals to provide healthy foods.
13. Most fast-food chains have cut fat content and offer salads and low-carb meals.
(from 12)
14. People who choose Hardee’s 1,418-calorie Monster Thickburger have only
themselves to blame. (from 13)
15. The government’s new dietary guidelines encourage people to exercise more,
eat more healthy foods such as fruits, vegetables, and whole grains.
16. Good eating habits are a matter of personal and parental responsibility. ( from
1,2,3,7,11,14,15)

3+4. Analyzing and evaluating the argument:

 USA Today’s article has brought up some interesting reasoning. However, it
also raises some particular flaws for several reasons.
Firstly, according to premise (1): “Personal responsibility, not a "fat" lawsuit, is
the solution to the obesity issue”. It is just a way fast-food companies are using to
defend themselves by attacking the motive of personal responsibility. They believe
that obesity or some related diseases belong to people’s inner bodies, which means
that no one but individuals could cure these diseases, and lawsuits were invalid in this
situation. However, before any legal actions were implemented, fast food restaurants
such as McDonald’s deceived their customers by supplying incorrect information
about nutritional ingredients. When health problems emerged and consumers began to
blame fast food for what they believed to be the root of their health issues, it was then
that fast food companies reacted and took action by providing better nutritional
information. Moreover, some small kids, who are not old enough yet to be aware of
what they are doing cannot take responsibility for what they eat.

Secondly, leading to premise (2), “Nobody is forced to eat at McDonald’s”,

where both the court and the defendant businesses place the blame on customers for
buying their products and services by attacking the motives of customers’ buying.
They considered that no one has a right to oblige others to do anything they do not
want, including eating. It belongs to each body’s autonomy. In other words, personal
responsibility becomes the primary point of attack for the companies. If we look at
both sides, there’s still something irrational. The customers include both adults and
children. Is it true to blame the customers, especially children who are not aware of
what they eat? Is it all because of the customers’ fault? What is the fast food
restaurants’ responsibility? Why aren’t fast food businesses responsible for providing
better and healthier meals? Besides, McDonald’s also launched some programs like
Happy Meals which attracted the curiosity of children about the toys and indirectly
drew the kids' attention. Therefore, fast food chains cannot blame the customers,
especially if they are children.

Thirdly, fast-food establishments have started taking additional action as a

result of more lawsuits and complaints. In the sixth paragraph, the article claims (9)
that the Ronald McDonald Mascot was sent to primary schools to promote health, not
burgers. This example is just not true to conclude that fast-food restaurants are
responding to consumer demand and health concerns. There’s a point we are unaware
of, which is that the Mascot also represents the company’s name and the brand’s
products, which are hamburgers. It is undeniable that they are subtly marketing the
fast-food made available by 'health' advertising.
 Fourthly, according to "USA Today", the arguments in (12,13) that several fast
food businesses provide Weight Watchers' meals (which means a suitable diet for the
fat) to supply healthy food. Fast-food restaurants respond to consumers’ demands and
health concerns by giving customers options between good and unhealthy food. The
way they offer client options has committed the False alternatives fallacy. They
claim that there are only two relevant choices when in fact, there are more than two.
For example, a great number of clients, especially kids, and adolescents, come to
McDonald’s daily just to get the toys attached to the meals called ‘Happy Meals’
served at McDonald’s. And children eat there because of toys, not food. When
considering aspects of the economy, I would claim that providing always leads to
demand or vice versa. If there were no sources of fast food in the first place, this issue
of blame would not arise.

Fifthly, USA’s argument in (15) is that: “The government’s new dietary

guidelines encourage people to exercise more and eat more healthy foods such as
fruits, vegetables, and whole grains”. Fortunately for the government, fast food-related
health illnesses reduced the annual cost of public health by $117 billion. This could be
the reason why the government has not taken steps to stop the poor nutrition found in
fast food. The only action the government has taken is to encourage people to eat
more fruits, exercise more, and follow new dietary standards. My point of view argues
that these measures are insufficient. Because customers, who buy fast food, are not
only adults but also children, fast-food restaurants bear no main responsibility for the
health of their clients, particularly in the case of parents who have knowledge about
nutrition and who are responsible for looking out for their children because kids'
nutritional requirements are different from adults.

Finally, the conclusion in (16) is that: “ Good eating habits are a matter of
personal and parental responsibility”. This claim is not entirely accurate because fast
food is a major contributor to obesity in the United States. Apart from the duty of
individuality and parenthood, fast-food chains are furthermore responsible for each
individual’s eating habits. Indeed, fast food is often high in calories, fat, and sugar,
leading to many addiction-like behaviors in humans and some fast-food companies
deceived customers by providing them with wrong information about their nutrition
index. Moreover, the main target of most fast-food businesses is youngsters and the
companies appealed to them by advertising many attractive promotions designed for
adolescents. Children are easily fascinated by tasty and desirable foods, so they can
find it difficult to resist these fatty foods. Additionally, children are a young age group
that is hard to have awareness of the bad attribution of junk food. Therefore, the claim
that individuals like kids and adolescents have to take responsibility for having good
eating habits is not convincing.
 “The USA Today” offers several suggestions to protect fast-food companies.
The author claims that personal responsibility is the key to the obesity issue, that
nobody is forced to eat junk food, food companies are responding to health findings
and consumers’ demand, that customers have themselves to blame, that the
government has issued new guidelines that encourage people to exercise more, eat
more healthy foods. Even if we grant all of these arguments—and some of them are
certainly highly questionable—they are not sufficient to protect fast food companies
and commit some logical fallacies such as attacking the motive fallacy, and false
alternative fallacy. What is missing from The USA Today’s article is how teenagers
and young children are negatively impacted by junk food.

(Our group’s argument)

Obesity is not only a matter of fast food chains. Other factors can also
contribute to obesity in Americans such as genetics, lack of physical activities, and
unhealthy eating habits at their home. It is certainly concerning that junk food
companies are targeting young people with their promotions, but it is also important to
notice that parents ultimately have the responsibility to make healthy choices for their
children due to the increase in the number of customers who are teenagers and
children. Finally, as we’ve seen, pinning the blame solely on fast food companies
ignores the role of personal responsibility and undermines the importance of education
about nutrition and healthy lifestyles.

5. Conclusion:
After analyzing and evaluating the argument, our group concludes that the
reasoning from ‘ The USA Today’ news is unfair and it is biased towards the
consumers. Although customers are blaming burgers for the rise in obesity-related
worries, fast-food establishments should take their responsibility for children's health
far more seriously because overweight kids are much more likely to grow up to be
overweight adults.

Sources:
(1):https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-2005-10-26-0510260212-
story.html
(3):https://action.storyofstuff.org/sign/mcdonalds_mcteachers/