I have approximately 17 minutes to express myself before the deadline so let’s keep this brief.
The word “buffet” brings all kinds of thoughts to mind. Some may think of value, others may think of bloating. Then some may think of quality and where it may have disappeared to.
One thing that many tend to overlook is the externality of Salmonella. It’s not visible, but I assure you it is there (bring a microscope). According to many moderately reliable sources (i.e. google), buffets are one of the leading causes of Salmonella in regards to dining out. The food sits and sits and the bacteria grow and grow. You go in for that bite of oyster that has been sitting out for the whole afternoon, and you are filled with regret a few hours later. This is clearly a negative externality of eating out. One expects to receive food and nourishment (maybe) at a buffet and walks away with bacteria. Another negative externality could be the flies that land on the food and lay maggots. There are also some positive externalities of a buffet, such as potentially meeting a new love-interest in line.
The moral of this story is that if one chooses to indulge in a buffet, they may in turn receive a negative externality of food poisoning. Despite all this, I’ll take my chances.
You are right. The buffet contains more potential health issues. In buffet, the price is the same, no matter how much you eat. People usually eat a lot in the buffet to be worthy of their money. But eating too much would increase the burden of intestine and stomach. It would cause intestinal tract disease over time. And it would make people become fatter, which would also cause many heart disease in the long run.