Physicians Committee Wants President Obama To Avoid Photo Ops With Cheeseburgers, Hot Dogs

If the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine had its way President Obama will not be seen munching down on cheeseburgers and hot dogs during photo ops.

The group which partly focuses on healthy eating practices called for an “executive order banning staged official photo ops that depict the president, the first family, the vice president, and members of the president’s cabinet with unhealthful foods including processed meats that can cause cancer and obesity.”

In examining various photographs in which President Obama is seen eating some of America’s most consumed foods Dr. Susan Levin, the groups director of nutrition comments:

“The White House would never set up a photo op of a president with a cigarette, so why show him eating foods that cause cancer?

Hot dogs, hamburgers, and other unhealthful foods kill more Americans each year than tobacco, and they cost taxpayers billions of dollars in health care,” Levin said. “The president can eat what he likes in private, but at orchestrated public events, our leaders are role models.”

The White House insists that the photo ops including burgers and hot dogs are not staged and the President’s own habits seem to suggest that is true. For example whenever President Obama is near a Five Guys Burgers joint he tends to stop in for a quick meal.

In the meantime President Obama isn’t exactly the first President to pose with unhealthy foods, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton and other former presidents were also often seen eating foods considered American staples.

The group opposing the types of food eaten by the President argues that his actions act as a massive publicity motivator for millions of Americans, much like product placement in movies and TV shows.