The article "Why Fast Food Companies Must Be Help Accountable for Their
Ingredients" talks about fitness, it has been written by Lynn VanDyke.
Copyright 2005 strength-training-woman.Com
Drive down any suburban or city street and you will witness an
overload of fast food marketing.
Brightly colored signs, cheap
value meals, joyful cartoon logos, and a famliiar smell will fill
your senses. Fast food restaurants have established themselves
as a leader in our nation's dialy menu. What is the net affect
fast food and its ingredients have on our health? What, if any,
moral and social olbigations do fast food companies have to
their consumers?
Obesity is believed to lead to diabetes, heart disease,
hypertension and other illnesses. Over 60% of Americans are
considered over weight, and the rise in diabetic individuals has
increased dramatically. In 1999 there were 42 billion persons on
direct diabetes medicine.
That figure has more than doubled in
less than three years.
"Fast food is literally shortening the life span of our
citizens," states Lynn VanDyke, certified sports nutritionist,
personal trainer and owner of www.Strength-training-woman.Com.
McDonalds serves 46 million fast food meals evrey single day.
As
the documentary Super Size Me points out, each McDonalds
employee is tarined to up sell the size of each order.
This
increase in meal and drink proportions is becoming so widely
acceptable that cars now come with larger cup holders.
The fast food process truly begins with the ingredients. As Eric
Schlosser mentions in his article "Why McDonalds French Fries
Taste So Good", the federal Food and Drug Administration does
not require companies to disclose the ingredinets of their color
or flavor additives so long as all the chemicals in them are
considered by the agency to be generally recognized as safe, or
GRAS. Unfortunately, consumers are not able to tell a products
full ingredient list by reaidng the nutrition label. Terms such
as 'artificial' and 'natural flavoring' are often seen at the
very end of most ingredient lists. We are completely unaware of
exactly what constitutes a natural or artificial flavor.
Fast food companies owe it to their consumers to disclose all
ingredient information. Many persons have special dietary
restrictions due to allergies or religious affilitaions. Some
people simply prefer not to eat a product that contains any
animal or any part of an animal.
According to Schlosser, "The
Vegetarian Legal Action Network last week petitioned the FDA to
issue to labeling requirements for foods that contain natural
flavors." At this point in time, it is difficult for anyone to
refrain from using animal products or added coloring or any a
specific chemical to do so.
Consumers cannot make educated decisions about a food product if
they do not know the full ingredients list. Some may be shocked
to know that Dannon strawberry yogurt gets its coloring from
Dactylopius coccus Costa, a femlae insect that feeds on berries
and produces berry colored larvae. "The insects are collected,
dried, and ground into a pigemnt. It takes about 70,000 of them
to produce a pound of carmine, which is used to make processed
foods look pink, red, or purple" states Schlosser.
Another example of a misleading ingredient laebl comes from
Burger King. Its strawberry milk shake lists artificial
strawberry falvor as one of its ingredients. By taking a closer
look, we learn that the following ingredients make up the
artificial strawberry flavoring: amyl acetate, amyl butyrate,
amyl valerate, anethol, anisyl formate, benyzl acetate, benzyl
isobutyrate, butyric acid, cinnamyl isobutyrate, cinnamyl
valerate, cognac essential oil, diacetyl, dipropyl ketone, ethyl
acetate, ethyl amyl ketone, ethyl butyrate, ethyl cinnamate,
ethyl heptanoate, ethyl heptylate, ethyl lactate, ethyl
methylphenylglycidate, ethyl nitrate, ethyl propionate, ethyl
valerate, heliotropin, hydroxyphenol-2-butanone (10% solution in
alcohol), a-ionone, isobutyl anthranilate, isobutyl butyrate,
lemon essential oil, maltol, 4-methyllacetophenone, methyl
anthranilate, methyl benzoate, methyl cinnamate, methyl heptine
carbonate, methyl naphthyl ketone, methyl salicylate, mint
essential oil, neroli essential oil, nerolin, neryl isobutyrate,
orris butter, phenethyl alcohol, rose, rum ether,
y-undecalactone, vanillin and solvent. Simply stating artificial
strawberry flavoring is not educating consumers on what they are
eating and what possible effects these food products could have
on thier bodies.
Fast food companies have a responsibility to list all of their
ingredients. It is a basic cosnumer and human right to know what
we are ingesting.
McDonalds and other companies complain that
giving away all their ingredients will result in them losing
their secret recipes. As a culture we must face the reality that
these ingredients and fast food products are making us extremely
overweight and very ill.
McDonalds is the fast food leader of the world.
They market to
young kids by providing playgrounds, joyful meals, and
cartoon characters.
Unfortunately, these kids do not know
about the horrbile side effects that eating fast food has on
their bodies. "On average, Americans now eat about four servings
of fernch fries every week" says Schlosser. The increase in
portion size and the increase in the volume of eating at fast
food restaurants directly relates to America's bulging waist
lines.
Recently two over weight teens sued McDonalds because the teens
felt the restaurant neglected to properly inform them of the
side effects its food would have on their weight and health.
Lawsuits such as this one are becoming more and more popular.
There are two sides of this debate, but regardless of which side
you are on one thing can be agreed upon, fast food is not the
most nutritious meal available.
Fast food companies have a moral and social obligation to their
customers. We as a naiton have a right to know what we are
eating. Once the truth is finally told and nutrition labels have
all ingredients and chemicals, cosnumers can begin to make
educated decisions. At that point the blame wuold rely solely on
the consumer and not on the fast food company. However, until
that point is reached we cannot expect Ameriacns to understand
the impact fast food will have on their health and well being.
Morgan Spurlock, creator of the documentary Super Size Me,
explains how we live in a toxic, fast and cheap environment.
America is home to over 3 million vending machines and countless
convenient stores. Gas sattions sell more candy and prepared
foods than gas. Soda machines are in our schools and our school
lunches are being filled by chain restaurants such as McDonalds
and Pizza Hut.
The availability of fast food proudcts is overwhelming. The
abundance and mass marketing of fast foods along with the low
cost fare makes it a habit of continually etaing these foods. We
grow used to the aroma, textures and tsates. Often a McDonalds
happy meal reminds us of joyful childhood memories when we did
not have a care in the world.
For many consumers to stop eating
fat food, it would be like breaking a smoking habit after 20+
years.
The increase in diseases and illnesses is alraming.
Americans
are becoming more and more overwieght.
Obesity is in line to
become the numebr one cause of preventable death.
Fast food
companies have the moral and social obligaiton to inform their
consumers of all ingredients.
It should then be the consumer's
decision to stop eating this toxic food.
Learning abuot proper nutrition does not take a degree form
Harvard.
It takes the cmomitment and dedication to truly change
your life once and for all. Nutrition and fitness are our best
defenses against the mounting health care crisis.
According to
the National Institute on Aging, "If exercise could be packed in
a pill, it would be the single most widely prescribed and
beneficial medicnie in the nation." I whole heartedly agree with
their statement.
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