Has Fast Food Become Healthier?
Low-calorie choices are becoming more common. But can we call fast food healthy?
By Toby Amidor | Contributor Oct. 21, 2013, at 2:05 p.m.
Has Fast Food Become Healthier?
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Although the words "fast food" and "dietitian" seem contradictory, I do indulge in a fast-food meal several times a year. When I was growing up, I had the Burger King crown and McDonald 's glass cup – to me, the childhood memories associated with these chains are undeniable. Nowadays, you can 't go down most highways or through most towns without these in-your-face joints lining the streets. From burgers to Chinese food to Mexican fare, there 's a multicultural adventure right in our backyards. In recent years, many chains have been called
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It 's defined as "of, relating to or specializing in food that can be prepared and served quickly." In the 1930s, Howard Johnson franchised a second location to a colleague as a way to expand his operations during the Great Depression. Once everyone owned cars, the idea of drive-thru was a novel concept and allowed more folks to grab food on-the-go. Over the past 60 years, the fast-food industry 's popularity has skyrocketed. According to National Restaurant Association forecasts, fast food restaurant sales are expected to total $188.1 billion in 2013. This is a 4.9 percent increase from …show more content…
Many fast-food offerings are high in calories, artery-clogging saturated fat and sodium. In 2010, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration unveiled guidelines for a mandatory menu calorie count to be implemented in March 2011 for all chain restaurants with 20 or more locations. Once these numbers were reported, there was no doubt that most choices at fast-food joints were just unhealthy ones. The demand for healthy fast food has led to changes throughout the fast-food industry. Here are some of those changes:
Chipotle. A public concern that has been addressed by this Mexican fast-food chain is food sourcing. Chipotle strives to achieve "Food with Integrity," meaning food that tastes better, is from better sources and is better for animals and the environment. Chipotle works with local farmers and ranchers to ensure their operations create as little impact to the environment as possible. The company sources 100 percent of their cheese and sour cream from pasture-raised cows, and 100 percent of their pork and beef have been naturally raised, which means they were raised in a humane way, fed a vegetarian diet and never given hormones. Despite the best efforts for food integrity, it 's easy to pack more than 900 calories when ordering a chicken and bean burrito. However, with careful planning and conservative ingredients you can create a 400- to 500-calorie
Fast food, while a quick alternative to cooking, has always been known to be less healthy than traditional preparations, but the extent of its health benefits or detriments was not known until a lawsuit came out which inspired documentarian Morgan Spurlock to engage in a 30 day experiment. The resultant documentary specifically targeted McDonald’s, the largest fast food chain in the world, which also happens to be a major recipient of lawsuits linking obesity and their food. Spurlock endeavored to spend a thirty day period eating nothing but food that came from the golden arches, with the rules that he would supersize only when asked, and every time he was asked, and that he would have everything from the menu at least once. In the 2004 film Super Size Me, Morgan Spurlock explores the concept that McDonald’s contributes to the nation’s obesity problem through the utilization of statistics and scientific evidence as a logical appeal, comedy and repulsive qualities as an emotional appeal, and s...
Throughout the United States many American’s go through and eat at fast food places such as, McDonalds, Burger King, and Jack ‘n the Box. Mainly unaware of the amount of weight one can gain if consuming it on a daily bases or even two times week, can cause health issues, diabetes and possibly obesity. This was the main premise for writer Dave Zinczenko essay Don’t Blame the Eater, who makes an argument that many people are becoming obese and diabetic because of the fast food they eat. He asks a regarding his concern; Shouldn 't we know better than to eat two meals a day in fast-food restaurants?, As a way to engage the general public, like parents and teenagers, he expresses his argument through his own experience when he was a teenager eating at fast food places and information on the fast food industry in regards to how many calories are in the food.
Chipotle competitive advantage or Strengths has come from the ingredients that come from sustainable sources. According to the MarketLine article about Chipotle Mexican Grill SWOT analysis "Chipotle serves food using naturally raised meat (pork, beef and chicken) and dairy cattle... in 2014 the company served over 155 million pounds of naturally raised meat." Chipotle cares for their customers because they are not giving us food that has hormones and addictive substances. Their competitive advantage has changed the company culture and mission Statement nowadays they called it now food with integrity, the idea that their food is made with the respect for the animals and the
Fast food has infiltrated every nook and cranny of American society. Everywhere you turn you can see a fast food restaurant. An industry that modestly began with very few hot dog and hamburger vendors now has become a multi-international industry selling its products to paying customers. Fast food can be found anywhere imaginable. Fast food is now served at restaurants and drive-through, at stadiums, airports, schools all over the nation. Surprisingly fast food can even be found at hospital cafeterias. In the past, people in the United States used to eat healthier and prepared food with their families. Today, many young people prefer to eat fast food such as high fat hamburgers, French-fries, fried chicken, or pizza in fast
The food industry has become a large part of the American lives by providing cheap, affordable, and fulfilling food. Now, fast food has expanded globally, creating a global phenomenon. In Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal by Eric Scholosser, the book looks at the history of fast food and how it became a multi-billion dollar industry. Scholosser is an investigative journalist that seeks to uncover the truth about the fast food industry by researching its roots and exploring every aspect of the industry. Scholosser divided the book into two sections called “The American Way” and “Meat and Potatoes.”
Almost everyone has eaten fast food at some point in their lives, but not everyone realizes the negative effects some fast food can have on our nutrition. My family especially is guilty of eating unhealthy fast food meals at least once a week because of our budget and very busy schedules. In Andrea Freeman’s article entitled, “Fast Food: Oppression through Poor Nutrition,” She argues that fast food has established itself as a main source of nutrition for families that live in average neighborhoods and have low-incomes. Freeman begins the article by explaining how the number of fast food outlets is beginning to grow in poor communities because of the cheap prices and quick service these restaurants are famous for. The overabundance of fast
Fast food restaurants in America can be located on almost every street corner in almost every city. The enticing aroma of a burger and fries can be found at several locations in nearly every city, town, or suburb. According to Alaina Mcconnel, the 5 most popular fast food restaurants of 2011 are McDonalds, Subway, Starbucks, Wendy’s and Burger King (Mcconnell, A., & Bhasin, K., 2012). Fast food joints have a ruthless history of being fattening, greasy, and unhealthy with films like Super-Size me and Food Inc. giving the...
Fast Food Nation, by Eric Schlosser, is a stark and unrelenting look into the fast food industry that has ingrained itself in not only American culture, but in many cultures around the world. There is almost no place on earth that the golden arches has not entered. Aside from Antarctica, there is a McDonalds on every continent, and the number of countries that have fast food restaurants is growing on a daily basis. Schlosser describes in detail what happens behind the scenes, before the hamburger and fries come wrapped in environmentally safe paper and are consumed by millions of people daily.
However, when creating fast food restaurants, the industries were not thinking about the negative effects such as obesity. Other than obesity, other harmful effects exist as well. Fast food restaurants serve unhealthy products such as greasy foods and artificial meat that lead to dietary health issues in many adults and children. A recent study showed that “Young children who are fed processed, nutrient-poor foods are likely to become unhealthy teenagers, and eventually unhealthy adults. Now twenty-three percent of teens in the U.S. are pre-diabetic or diabetic, 22% have high or borderline high LDL cholesterol levels, and 14% have hypertension or prehypertension”
The icon that represents fast food culture for most people is McDonald's, though the fast food culture developed long before the creation of that restaurant chain. Schlosser considers the impact of such fast-food chains but also considers the primacy of the hamburger in the American diet and some of the dangers it poses. McDonald?s reliance on hamburger is a questionable item for a steady diet in a more health conscious age, and interferes w...
Subway has just become the biggest fast food franchise in the United States. They advertise a healthy menu full of all natural ingredients. However a recent experiment by the Journal of Adolescent Health found people consume almost the same amount of calories at Subway as McDonalds (Lesser). Subway is not the only fast food advertising healthy options however. Despite the unhealthiness of fast food, these chains do offer some benefits. Natalie Stein,a writer for the live strong foundation, who focuses on weight loss and sports nutrition points out some crucial benefits of fast food. Stein acknowledges the convince of fast food in her article “What Are the Benefits of Fast Food?” She believes that having fast food restaurants on almost every corner is a good thing. This might be a good thing to some people, but what is too much? The conveyance of fast food chains has driven out grocery stores and ruined a chance at a healthy diet. With obesity growing in the United States maybe it’s time to rethink the actual conveyance of fast
Over the last three decades, fast food has infiltrated every nook and cranny of American society and has become nothing less than a revolutionary force in American life. Fast food has gained a great popularity among different age groups in different parts of the globe, becoming a favorite delicacy of both adults and children.
New nutrition laws are being created to help familiarize people with the high amount of calories in fast food. California was the first state to make a law requiring the calorie count of food to be posted on the menu boards (“Judge” par. 15). On July 1, 2007, the New York City Board of Health created a new regulation which requires the calorie count of the food to be on fast food menus (“New” par. 2). The New York State Restaurant Association is currently fighting to reject this law (“Judge” par. 2). The idea of putting the amount of calories on fast food menu boards is currently spreading...
"Fast Food Facts." Center for Young Women's Health. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Apr. 2011. .
Throughout these 30 days, Spurlock consumed around 5000 kilo calories (twice as much as for a person of his age, weight and height) by eating every item from McDonald’s menu for at least once. And he “Super Sized” the meal only when he was offered to do so by McDonald’s (in these 30 days he was asked to Super Size his meal 9 times and 5 of them were in Texas). After this 30 - days of experiment to be only on McDonald’s foods, Spurlock gained 11.1 KG (24.5 pounds) and he also had a 13 percent of increase in his BMI (body mass index). On top of that, his cholesterol level was skyrocketing, he was experiencing frequent mood swings, fat accretion in the liver and his sex drive was reduced significantly. Moreover, he got addicted to taking these foods due to the addictive ingredients that prevail in them. It took him 14 more months to lose this extra body fat. This documentary film showed people how frequent intake of fast foods can affect our psychological and more importantly physical well - being. It also showed us that, how the fast food companies encourage people to intake their foods that are filled with “poor nutrition” for their own revenue