Jonathan Neman, co-founder and co-CEO of sweetgreen.
David A. Grogan | CNBC
Sweetgreen co-founder and CEO Jonathan Neman wrote a LinkedIn put up Tuesday connecting weight problems to the continued coronavirus pandemic, saying “no vaccine nor masks will save us” and proposing taxes on processed meals and refined sugar.
The put up was deleted Wednesday, a number of hours after Vice printed a narrative about it. Even earlier than Vice’s article, commenters on Neman’s unique put up had been calling his argument “fat-phobic.”
Sweetgreen confidentially filed for an preliminary public providing in June, making this an inopportune time for controversy surrounding the corporate. Shopper backlash may damage each its fame and gross sales, turning off traders.
Neman’s commentary comes because the U.S. battles one other wave of latest Covid-19 instances, main some localities to impose vaccination or masks necessities. As of Aug. 31, the seven-day common of each day new U.S. instances reached 160,455, up 6% from every week in the past, in keeping with a CNBC evaluation of Johns Hopkins College information. Well being officers have pointed to the extremely contagious delta variant because the perpetrator, notably in areas with low vaccination charges.
“78% of hospitalizations on account of COVID are Overweight and Obese folks,” Neman wrote within the put up. “Is there an underlying downside that maybe now we have not given sufficient consideration to?”
The Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention has listed having a physique mass index inside the obese or weight problems vary as one of many elements that may make somebody extra more likely to get severely unwell from Covid-19. Nevertheless, some medical consultants, researchers and dietitians say that BMI is a flawed well being metric as a result of it does not account for physique fats distribution or precisely predict the well being of various races and demographics.
Neman’s statistic probably comes from an article printed in March within the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
In his LinkedIn put up, Neman additionally mentioned that Covid is right here to remain for the foreseeable future, and the very best guess is to deal with general well being, as an alternative of simply stopping an infection.
“We can not run away from it and no vaccine nor masks will save us (in full disclosure I’m vaccinated and help others to get vaccinated),” Neman wrote.
He additionally known as masks and vaccine mandates “authorities overreach” and proposed implementing well being mandates.
“What if we made the meals that’s making us sick unlawful? What if we taxed processed meals and refined sugar to pay for the influence of the pandemic?” he added.
Taxes on processed meals and refined sugar would probably hit low-income customers the toughest. A Sweetgreen salad, which begins at $9.95, could possibly be out of their price range vary.
In response to a commenter calling the put up “fat-phobic,” Neman mentioned that was not his intention. He wrote that the put up was meant to begin a dialog about how we must always take into consideration well being in another way and assault the foundation causes.
A consultant for Sweetgreen didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark from CNBC.
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