A flury of reports today are talking about how people are starting to point their finger at the food companies as the blame of the increasing obesity of Americans.

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/11823972/
http://www.forbes.com/work/feeds/ap/2006/03/18/ap2605096.html

We share the blame for this problem. NO ONE needs to drink a 64oz anything. NO ONE needs a Venti anything. Perhaps a treat is fine, once in a while, but not as daily subsistence. Last time I checked, gluttony was still considered a sin. We are choosing these empty calorie blasts and suffering for it. I think the problem is that many people don't actually know they are causing these problems for themselves.

At a certain "QuickieMart" the 12oz cup is referred to as the child's size of soda. Most people then reach for the 32oz version.

In a previous blog, I pointed out that one can of the average soda has about 130 calories. So one can a day is about 47,450 empty, useless, unnecessary calories a year.

Ok, so how about doing the math with a 32oz drink a day? That comes out to 123,370 calories a year.

And how long are you on the Stair Master each day? Are you really burning off those calories?

And don’t even get me started on “diet” drinks. Read a book called Excitotoxins: The Taste That Kills for a real eye opener on those “sugar substitutes.”

So how about a whole, Venti Latte? According to the web site that company maintains, that’s 340 calories with 160 of those from fat.

340 times 365 is 124,100 calories a year for your 10:00 AM fix.

But wait, you say, I only drink skim Latte’s. Ok, that’s 210 calories…

210 times 365 is 76, 650 calories a year. Are you still feeling like that’s a slim version of your favorite drink? At least there are zero fat calories with that option…

Oh, and by the way, it has 290 mg of Sodium. 500 gm is about all you should have in a day.

Soy Latte? 270 calories and 70 from fat. You can do the math yourself.

The point of all this is awareness. The food companies say it is your fault if you get fat and sick from their products. I seem to remember the tobacco companies saying the same thing but don’t expect to be part of a settlement here. Courts have already through out cases based on the fact that we call this stuff “junk food.” We should know better.