Globalization

A.J. SERRANO
English 96
Essay #1 - Rewrite

The Health Risk Associated With Globalization
Globalization has given the world common similarities and narrowed the distance between cultures and countries by sharing goods, services, and ideas across international borders. One description of globalization found in The New World Reader, by Gilbert H. Muller, states, "Globalization has changed the way people think about themselves and their relation to the world"(23). The United States has had a huge impact on globalization, promoting democracy, human rights, and providing aid and medical supplies to poorer countries. Unfortunately, not all of America's contributions have been good for the global population with products such as cigarettes and fast food contributing to a world health crisis never before seen on a global scale. American companies need to inform consumers in foreign countries of the health risks that comes from these products by revealing the health risk and including the same kind of warnings that are mandatory in the United States.
People around the world see certain products as representing the American way of life. Coca-Cola, McDonald's franchises, and Marlboro cigarettes are the most widely recognized American icons around the world. An article found in The Economist, titled “Worldwide Epidemic," states, "McDonald's has become emblematic of globalization, sometimes referred to as the 'McDonalization' of society." According to the article, "Potential Effects of the Next 100 billion Hamburgers Sold by McDonald's," written by doctors Elsa Spencer, Erica Frank, and Nicole McIntosh, "McDonald's has sold over 100 billion hamburgers worldwide and is the leading retailer of hamburger food service, with over 30,000 restaurants in 119 countries." Because of the global misperception that fast food is the most popular food in America, and, because McDonald's is not required to reveal its nutritional information, it is misleading foreign consumers into... [continues]

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