Even if I'm not fasting, I tend to not eat in public anyway.
But the first excuse, even though it's not valid, has a lot of pull for some people. They think that if they don't pray or anything the rest of the time, then why fast during Ramadan? Are they gonna pray just for Ramadan and then stop again? It's like... "Why wear hijab if I don't pray or fast or do the other stuff that's fard? I'll just be pretending to be a good Muslim when I'm not."
About the cracked lips... can you wear chapstick while fasting?
The breath doesn't get that bad. I mean, you're still doing wudu and gargling with water, right? So if you use hot water, it kind of kills the stench. But you don't have to get that close to people.
