What if restaurants were required to obtain informed consent before feeding you?
Food has an enormous impact on our health. By many estimates, the majority of problems that consume the nation’s healthcare budget are the result of excesses of sugar, highly processed foods, saturated fat, meat, and sodium. It is almost impossible to find an entrée in a restaurant that does not contain too much fat and too much salt. The food industry, while paying lip service to peoples desire to control their health, is not going to stop capitalizing on people’s compulsion to satisfy their taste buds.
As a healthcare provider, I am required to obtain informed consent anytime I perform an action which might have lasting impact on a person’s health. If this is a procedure, I am required to carefully delineate all the possible harms that could come from that procedure and get a signature from the patient or their representative proving that I have talked to them about these possibilities. What if restaurants were required to do the same thing?
“Hi, my name is Zoe, I will be your server tonight.
Before you place your order, I need to talk to you about what we’re going to do and what the potential consequences could be.
First we need to have a brief timeout during which everyone needs to agree on the procedure. The procedure tonight will be a 3 course meal with wine and dessert. It will be consumed on the premises. Does everyone agree?
Good. Now I need to inform you that, while we take every measure to prevent harm, this meal could ultimately contribute to your disability, discomfort or even death.
While you may have no history of allergies, you could develop an anaphylactic reaction to some ingredient in one of our dishes, which could lead to respiratory failure and death.
It is also possible that you could choke on the food, with similar results.
While we take great pains to obtain our ingredients from reliable sources, there is always the possibility of contamination, either chemical or bacterial which could cause fever, diarrhea, dehydration and possibly death.
If you order the fish, it is important to recognize that there may be mercury contamination, and that fish occasionally accumulate toxins from the plankton they eat, which could result in flushing, hypertension, diarrhea and potentially death.
Any dishes you eat from animal sources may contain elevated levels of pesticides and other toxins which have been amplified by biological magnification. You may also experience guilt due to the suffering involved in the production of the meat.
While we are very conscious of the importance of healthy eating, we cannot compete in the marketplace if we lower the sodium content of our food, so you should be aware that it may aggravate your high blood pressure. It is also important for you to recognize that the rich meal you eat tonight may lead to cardiovascular disease including heart attack and stroke.
For dessert, I would like to recommend the dark chocolate ganache, but I must add that even organic chocolates have been found to accumulate cadmium, mercury and other heavy metals from the soil. These could potentially contribute to neurologic degeneration and perhaps conditions such as Parkinson’s disease.
We are happy to provide you with fine wines, but we would like you to acknowledge that ethanol is a neurotoxin, and that even small quantities of it have been shown to kill neurons. Likewise your risk of death or injury by falling or motor vehicle collision will be increased.
We hope you will enjoy your meal.
Please sign this disclosure stating that you have been informed of the risks.
Now, what would you like to order?“
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