Support for LAist comes from
Audience-funded nonprofit news
Stay Connected
Audience-funded nonprofit news
Listen
Podcasts Take Two
Should unhealthy food producers be held responsible for obesity costs?
solid orange rectangular banner
()
Feb 14, 2014
Listen 4:34
Should unhealthy food producers be held responsible for obesity costs?
By some estimates, obesity-related disease accounts for twenty percent of health care expenses in this country, but who should pay the price? According to some in the legal community, that responsibility falls with the food manufacturers themselves.
SAN FRANCISCO - APRIL 06: A man walks along the Embarcadero April 6, 2005 in San Francisco. According to a study released Tuesday, almost 53 percent of Californians over 25 are overweight, and more than 17 percent are obese, or extremely overweight and are costing nearly $21.7 billion a year in medical bills, injuries and lost productivity. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
A man walks along the Embarcadero April 6, 2005 in San Francisco.
(
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
)

By some estimates, obesity-related disease accounts for twenty percent of health care expenses in this country, but who should pay the price? According to some in the legal community, that responsibility falls with the food manufacturers themselves.

Unhealthy eating isn't just a big concern for California kids. It's a nationwide problem which costs billions of dollars each year.

By some estimates, obesity-related disease accounts for twenty percent of health care expenses in this country, but who should pay the price? According to some in the legal community, that responsibility falls with the food manufacturers themselves.

For more on this, we're joined by Politico's Helena Bottemiller Evich.