The rise of weight-loss drugs isn’t only shrinking Americans’ waistlines, it could also shrink food corporations’ bottom lines. 

Some experts predict junk food companies – already battling a rise in health conscious customers – could face a tobacco-like demise due to drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy, which reduce cravings and make people feel full longer. 

Big banks, such as Morgan Stanley, predict 24 million people, or seven percent of the US population, will be taking weight-loss drugs by 2035. 

An analysis by the bank also predicts patients prescribed the drugs will consume one-quarter of the candy, confectionary and other junk food they did before – slashing billions of dollars from annual revenue.

And corporations are already spooked. A recent analysis found executives at junk food companies are increasingly talking about the medications with investors. 

Morgan Stanley’s food analyst Pamela Kaufman said in a report: ‘The food, beverage and restaurant industries could see softer demand, particularly for unhealthier foods and high-fat, sweet and salty options.’ 

The new class of medications can lead to a 20 to 30 percent reduction in daily calories, and people tend to eat less high-sugar and high-fat foods, meaning the makers of chips, cookies and baked goods could take a hit, with banks predicting a drop in consumption by as much as three percent through 2035.

While any negative impacts are likely to be gradual, investors and c-suite executives have already begun to worry. 

Reuters’ Breakingviews scoured the transcripts of corporations’ presentations, events and earnings calls, which is a conference between the management of a company, financial analysts, media and investors.

It found in 2022, there were 18 mentions of Wegovy, Ozempic and Mounjaro. So far in 2023, at least one of these drugs was mentioned in calls 71 times.  

Morgan Stanley’s research found 73 percent of people on the weight loss drugs ate less confectionary food, which includes sugary candy, chocolate and some baked goods. 

Seventy percent of people consumed fewer sugary drinks; 69 percent ate less cookies; and 67 percent reached for fewer salty snacks. 

These drastic reductions could spell trouble for the mega-producers of these types of food, including Cadbury and Oreo producer Mondelez International, Nestle, which makes Hot Pockets and Häagen-Dazs, and Kraft Heinz, which produces products like Jell-O and Kraft Mac and Cheese. 

These companies dominate the global market for snacks, which is currently valued at half a trillion dollars, and they should brace for falling demand.

The hospitality industry is also taking a hit. The same survey found 77 percent of people on weight-loss drugs took fewer trips to fast-food establishments and 74 percent ate at pizzerias less. 

Like snack-makers, major players in the fast food industry, such as McDonald’s, Burger King and Yum Brands, which owns KFC and Taco Bell, could see falling demand, with analysts forecasting a drop in sales between one to two percent by 2035.

While two percent may not seem like a lot, it equates to nearly $7 billion.   

Alcohol will also take a hit from the rise in weight-loss prescriptions. Two-thirds of Americans on these medications report consuming less alcohol and nearly one-quarter stopped drinking alcohol altogether. 

Banking analysts projected US-focused alcohol companies face the highest risk and can expect a two percent decline in consumption by 2035. 

The implications of weight-loss drug approval and popularity extends beyond the food and beverage industries.

Financial analysts also predict companies that make products to treat conditions stemming from obesity could also take a hit.

Companies that manufacture products for sleep apnea, a condition in which sufferers intermittently stop breathing while asleep, will likely see a reduction in value because approximately 70 percent of sufferers are obese. 

Additionally, companies that sell joint replacements should also expect their valuations to decline. 

And rival weight-loss businesses, such as WW International, formerly known as Weight Watchers, has seen its shares plummet by about 70 percent since Wegovy was approved in June 2021. Jenny Craig, a similar business, shut down in May after more than 40 years because of growing competition from weight-loss drugs. 

How a pandemic tax break for small businesses – which has already cost taxpayers billions – has turned into a ‘modern gold rush’ thanks to consultancy firm plugged by Shark Tank star Kevin O’Leary

• Employee Retention Credit was created as an emergency response to lockdown
• Relief expired in late 2021 but businesses have until April 2025 to file a claim
• Firm Bottom Line Concepts – plugged by O’Leary – charges 15-25% fees to help business receive a payout

By Helena Kelly Consumer Reporter For Dailymail.Com

Updated: 08:19 EDT, 6 September 2023

Hawaii‘s governor said on Thursday that the death toll from the Maui wildfires was likely to rise substantially, saying that it could eclipse the 1960 tsunami which killed 61 people.

The death toll is currently at 53, and a little earlier, with the toll at 36, Josh Green said it would rise. Officials will provide an update at 9:30pm EST on Thursday.

‘I’ll tell you, by the time this disaster is all described, I’m sure there will be dozens of people that lost their lives and billions of dollars of property that was destroyed,’ said Green.

He told CNN‘s Wolf Blitzer that 1,700 buildings were probably destroyed in the fire.

He said most buildings in Lahaina, a historic town in Maui, are completely gone, some of them still smoldering. 

Only some stone buildings are still standing, he said.

‘We also are only now getting some of our search and rescue personnel into other houses,’ Green said, adding that helicopters are also surveying the area.

The cause of the wildfire remains unknown.

The National Weather Service said dry vegetation, strong winds, and low humidity fueled them. 

Green said it was likely to prove a worse natural disaster than the tsunami of May 1960, sparked by an earthquake in Chile.

That tragedy left 61 people dead.

Hawaii is not immune to wildfires: in 2018, a total of 30,000 acres burnt, with flames fanned by Hurricane Lane.

This time, strong winds were caused by Hurricane Dora, which passed south of the islands. 

Wildfires occur every year in Hawaii, according to Thomas Smith, an environmental geography professor at the London School of Economics and Political Science – but this year’s fires are burning faster and bigger than usual.

Neighborhoods and businesses have been razed to the ground, and vehicles burned to a crisp across the western side of the island as the wildfires cut off most roads out of Lahaina. 

The town is one of Maui’s prime attractions, drawing two million tourists each year, or about 80 per cent of the island’s visitors.

The wildfires took most of Lahaina’s residents and visitors by surprise when they broke out late on Tuesday, forcing some to run for their lives and jump into the ocean to escape the fast-moving inferno.

Nicoangelo Knickerbocker, a 21-year-old resident of Lahaina, had just awoken from a nap on Tuesday evening when he saw the fires burning through his hometown. 

His mother and sister fled, while he and some and friends went to neighbors’ houses, helping people pack belongings and trying in vain to stem the flames with garden hoses.

‘It was so hot all around me, I felt like my shirt was about to catch on fire,’ he told AP from one of the four emergency shelters opened on the island. 

The shelters are housing more than 2,100 people, Hawaii News Now said.

Knickerbocker heard cars and a gas station explode, and soon after fled the town with his father, bringing with them only the clothes they were wearing and the family dog. 

‘It sounded like a war was going on,’ he said.

At least 20 people suffered serious burns, and several were airlifted to Oahu for medical treatment, said Ed Sniffen of the Hawaii Department of Transportation.

More than 11,000 visitors were evacuated from Maui.

Though at least 16 roads were closed, the airport was operating fully, he said.

Most of the roughly 400 evacuees at the War Memorial shelter on Thursday morning had arrived in shock, with an ’empty look,’ said Dr. Gerald Tariao Montano, a pediatrician who volunteered to work a six-hour shift on Wednesday night.

‘Some haven’t fully grasped that they lost everything,’ he said. 

He pleaded for donations of clothes, supplies, food, baby formula and diapers.

The fate of some of Lahaina’s cultural treasures remains unclear. 

The historic 60-foot-tall banyan tree marking the spot where Hawaiian King Kamehameha III’s 19th-century palace stood was still standing, though some of its boughs appeared charred, according to a Reuters witness.

Joe Biden approved a disaster declaration for Hawaii, allowing affected individuals and business owners to apply for federal housing and economic recovery grants, the White House said in a statement.

Britain’s bulging waistline is stripping billions of pounds from the NHS each year with twice as much spent on obese patients than those of a healthy weight, a landmark study has revealed.

Costs per patient rise drastically the more people weigh, as they ‘collect obesity-related conditions’ such as type 2 diabetes, cancer and heart disease, according to research involving nearly 2.5million people.

The findings lay bare the enormous strain of obesity on NHS finances – suggesting the health service would stand to gain up to £13.7 billion annually if people maintained a healthy weight.

And experts believe the full cost to the economy is far greater still, once days lost to obesity-related illness is factored in.

Researchers tracked 2.4million adults in North-West London for a decade, analysing how many hospital admissions, GP appointments, and prescriptions they needed each year.

One million patients, who were a healthy weight with a body mass index (BMI) of 18 to 25, were calculated to cost the NHS an average of £638 each in 2019, the final year of the study.

By comparison, severely obese patients with a BMI of 40 and above cost more than double – at £1,375 annually.

Meanwhile the NHS spent £979 a year on obese patients with a BMI of 30 to 35, which increased to £1,178 a year for those with a BMI of 35-40.

Overall, 400,002 patients were classed as obese, with another one million classed as overweight but not obese, with a BMI of 25 to 30.

Those who were overweight cost on average £756 a year – 19 per cent more than those who were healthy.

Dr Jonathan Pearson-Stuttard, a public health scientist based at Imperial College London and head of health analytics at the LCP consultancy who led the study, said it was the first of this scale to calculate costs based on BMI.

It found as weight increased through the BMI categories, use of healthcare resources also rose incrementally with hospital admissions ‘by far the biggest cost to the NHS’.

Much of the increased spending was not on obesity itself, but on treating conditions linked to it including heart disease, arthritis, cancer and type 2 diabetes.

‘These costs are not just from living with obesity, but all the different conditions it results in – such as heart disease, stroke and back pain. People collect more and more obesity-related conditions over time,’ he said.

‘We know obesity can cause a range of hospitalisations including heart attacks, stroke, heart failure. It also increases the risk of cancers.

‘The ill-health and costs associated with obesity compound over time. Not only is that impacting individual health, but also costs to the NHS and the economic workforce.’

Participants were followed for a decade, with their weight measured when they enrolled. The costs associated with obesity increased significantly over the ten-year period, as patients’ health deteriorated. For the most severely obese patients, costs increased by 34 per cent in this time.

Latest NHS data shows 26 per cent of adults in England are obese and a further 38 per cent are overweight but not obese.

It suggests that when at the peak of treatment, 28.1million people with a high BMI could cost the NHS £23.8bn annually, compared to £10.1bn spent on those who are a healthy weight.

Presenting their findings at the European Congress on Obesity in Dublin, the researchers said it demonstrates the importance of preventing overweight people becoming obese, as well as stopping people putting on weight in the first place.

This would also be of benefit to the economy, Dr Pearson-Stuttard added.

He said: ‘Two of the biggest challenges for the UK economy is reducing demand on the health system, and increasing economic productivity.

‘Tackling obesity could really move the needle on both of these. People with obesity have quite predictable complications, but if you can control their weight and the risk of conditions, you will dramatically reduce demand for healthcare services.

‘Obesity is a big reason behind the rise in long-term sickness and inactivity in the UK workforce. In the last 20-30 years we have seen a big increase in people with multiple chronic conditions, which means they are not working.

‘Preventing someone who is in obesity class 1 (BMI 30-35) from moving to obesity class 2 (BMI 35-40), would clearly have health benefits and reduce costs. Focusing on prevention of obesity complications, through medications such as statins to prevent heart attacks, is also important.’

Commenting on the findings, NHS National Medical Director, Professor Sir Stephen Powis said: ‘The evidence is clear that those who are a healthy weight are less likely to develop long-term health conditions such as type 2 diabetes, experience joint problems or be diagnosed with some common forms of cancers.

‘That is why among other interventions the NHS has rolled out a Digital Weight Management Programme, which has already helped over 200,000 people living with obesity to take action to eat healthily and to move more, but the need for wider societal action on obesity is clear.’

Katharine Jenner, director of the Obesity Health Alliance, said: ‘The government is forcing the NHS to pay for its years of failure to prevent obesity-related ill health.

‘We have laws on the table that could begin to bring the costs of diet-related disease down, such as restrictions on unhealthy food and drink adverts and promotions, but the government has chosen instead to give in to pressure from the food industry and party politics to delay their implementation.

‘The food industry makes vast profits flooding our food environment with unhealthy food, and then passing the cost to our NHS. Government must step in and must step in and make sure the healthy choice the easy choice for everyone.’

• This article has been amended to make clear that the research was not carried out by Imperial College London 

Google has unveiled a huge update that signals ‘the beginning of the end’ for using passwords to access Gmail accounts.

The web giant has started to roll out its new passkey technology, which will allow billions of users to sign in to websites and apps the way they unlock a device — with a fingerprint, face scan or a device PIN that can verify their identity. 

It is expected that the new type of online sign-in will eventually replace passwords, although it will be a while before this happens because the technology is still in its infancy.

Experts say it will allow people to access and use their new password-less sign-in credentials – or passkey – across different devices.

This will prevent them from having to sign in to every account again on each device, reducing the risk of using easily-guessable passwords and therefore creating a more secure system.

The technology has also been rolled out in Apple’s iOS16 and the latest MacOS release, while Microsoft has been running it through the Authenticator app.

Ebay, PayPal and Docusign are already using the passkey, too, along with a number of other businesses.

It was created by industry body the FIDO (Fast Identity Online) Alliance and World Wide Web Consortium, with Google, Apple and Microsoft the primary drivers.

The tech giants said the new system also allows people to use a fingerprint or facial scan authentication on their smartphone as a way of signing in on another device nearby, regardless of which operating system or browser they are running.

This is a feature already in place for Apple devices, where someone wearing an Apple Watch can unlock a phone or MacBook.

This reduces the need for people to remember a wide range of username and password combinations to log in to different services, which has often led to passwords being reused across multiple accounts.

Experts have previously warned that this is one of the biggest security risks in the digital world.

Users can create and store a passkey on any compatible device they use  – such as iPhones running iOS16 and Android devices running Android 9.

They will also be able to share it to other devices from the OS using services such as iCloud or password managers like Dashlane and 1Password.

To set one up, visit g.co/passkeys. 

Enter your password to access your account, then click ‘Create a passkey’.

You will be asked to select ‘Continue’ to set one up for the device you are using, or ‘Use another device’ for a different one.

Once you’ve done this, you will be asked to place your fingerprint on your device as you normally would to unlock it, at which point the passkey will be created.

If at any point you suspect someone else can access your account, or if you lose the only device that the passkey is stored on, you can revoke passkeys in the Google account settings.

The technology works by storing a cryptographic private key on a user’s device, while there is a corresponding public key uploaded to Google. 

When a user signs in, the device uses the private key to generate a signature once it has solved a unique challenge. 

This signature is in turn verified using the public key which then allows the user to access their account.

Google never sees the private key or biometrics used, only the signature generated and the public key. 

The internet giant says this will prevent people using phishing, SIM-swap and other methods to obtain passwords or bypass existing authentication methods.

However, Google stresses that users should never create passkeys on a shared device because anyone that can access and unlock that device would then be able to access your Gmail account. 

‘While passwords will be with us for some time to come, they are often frustrating to remember and put you at risk if they end up in the wrong hands,’ Google said in its announcement.

‘Last year – alongside FIDO Alliance, Apple and Microsoft – we announced we would begin work to support passkeys on our platform as an easier and more secure alternative to passwords. 

‘And today, we’ve begun rolling out support for passkeys across Google Accounts on all major platforms. 

‘They’ll be an additional option that people can use to sign in, alongside passwords, 2-Step Verification (2SV), etc.’

Despite the rollout, Jake Moore, Global cybersecurity adviser at ESET, said we are still a long way from the end of the password.

But he added that ‘at least Microsoft, Google and Apple are attempting to pave the way to make account access for secure as well as convenient’.

‘It isn’t something that can be achieved overnight but it highlights that more needs to be done when it comes to people’s password security.’

Andrew Shikiar, executive director of FIDO Alliance, said: ‘We’re thrilled with Google’s announcement today as it dramatically moves the needle on passkey adoption due both to Google’s size, and to the breadth of the actual implementation — which essentially enables any Google account holder to use passkeys.

‘I also think that this implementation will serve as a great example for other service providers and stands to be a tipping point for the accelerated adoption of passkeys.’