Criticism of fast food

Fast food has come under criticism over concerns ranging from claimed negative health effects, alleged animal cruelty, cases of worker exploitation, and claims of cultural degradation via shifts in people's eating patterns away from traditional foods.

Fast food chains have come under fire from consumer groups, such as the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a longtime fast food critic over issues such as caloric content, trans fats and portion sizes.

Social scientists have highlighted how the prominence of fast food narratives in popular urban legends suggests that modern consumers have an ambivalent relationship (characterized by guilt) with fast food, particularly in relation to children.^[1] This guilt is projected onto processed food, where bizarre tales of contamination and lax standards are widely believed.

Some of the concerns have led to the rise of the Slow Food, or local food movements. These movements seek to preserve local cuisines and ingredients, and directly oppose laws and habits that favor fast food choices. Proponents of the slow food movement try to educate consumers about what its members considers the richer, more varied and more nourishing tastes of fresh, local ingredients that have been recently harvested.

Health based criticisms

McDonalds has received criticism for serving food high in saturated fat and calories.

According to the Massachusetts Medical Society Committee on Nutrition, fast food is especially high in fat content, and studies have found associations between fast food intake and increased body mass index (BMI) and weight gain.^[2] A 2006 study^[3] fed monkeys a diet consisting of a similar level of trans fats as what a person who ate fast food regularly would consume. Both diets contained the same overall number of calories. It was found that the monkeys who consumed higher level of trans fat developed more abdominal fat than those fed a diet rich in unsaturated fats. They also developed signs of insulin resistance, which is an early indicator of diabetes. After six years on the diet, the trans fat fed monkeys had gained 7.2% of their body weight, compared to just 1.8% in the unsaturated fat group.

The director of the obesity program for the Children's Hospital Boston, David Ludwig, claims that "fast food consumption has been shown to increase calorie intake, promote weight gain, and elevate risk for diabetes".^[4] The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ranked obesity as the number one health threat for Americans in 2003.^[5] It is the second leading cause of preventable death in the United States and results in 400,000 deaths each year.^[5]

About 60 million American adults are classified as being obese with another 127 million being overweight.^[5] Health issues associated with obesity causes economic despair regarding health care. According to a 2003 study conducted by RTI International in North Carolina, the cost of health care in America is said to increase by $93 billion a year, mainly from Type 2 diabetes and heart disease, both associated with obesity.^[4]

Excessive calories are another issue with fast food. According to B. Lin and E. Frazao, from the Department of Agriculture, states the percentage of calories which attribute to fast-food consumption has increased from 3% to 12% of the total calories consumed in the United States.^[2] A regular meal at McDonald's consists of a Big Mac, large fries, and a large Coca-Cola drink amounting to 1,430 calories. A diet of approximately 2,000 calories is considered a healthy amount of calories for an entire day (which is different depending on several factors such as age, weight, height, physical activity and gender). This number of calories was set in 1917. ^[6]

Food poisoning risk

Besides the dangers of trans fats (Which were only used after animal fats came under attack because of alleged cholesterol risk), high calories, and low fiber, there is another health risk: food poisoning. In his book Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal, Eric Schlosser describes in gross detail the process of meatpacking. Meatpacking has become one of the most hazardous jobs in America, with the risk of injury being three times higher than any other factory work.^[7] The meatpacking factories concentrate livestock into large feedlots and herd them through processing assembly lines operated by poorly trained employees increase the risk of large-scale food poisoning.^[8]

Manure on occasion gets mixed with meat, possibly contaminating it with salmonella and Escherichia coli 0157:H7. E. coli 0157:H7 is one of the worst forms of food poisoning. Usually spread through undercooked hamburgers, it is difficult to treat. Although antibiotics kill the bacteria, they release a toxin that produces harmful complications. About 4% of people infected with E. coli 0157:H7 develop hemolytic uremic syndrome, and about 5% of children who develop the syndrome die. The rate of developing HUS is 3 in 100,000 or 0.003%. E. coli 0157:H7 has become the leading cause of renal failure among American children.^[9] These numbers include rates from all sources of poisoning, including; Alfalfa sprouts; Apple juice/cider, unpasteurized; Deer meat, undercooked; Goat’s milk, unpasteurized; Ground beef, undercooked; Leaf lettuce; Meat, cold cooked sliced meat; Milk, unpasteurized; Radish sprouts; Sausages, particularly beef, undercooked; Environmental sources: Fecal-contaminated lakes; Nonchlorinated municipal water supply; Petting farm animals; Unhygienic person-to-person contact. ^[10] An average of sources leads to the number of 0.00000214% for undercooked beef.

Food-contact paper packaging

Fast food often comes in wrappers coated with perfluoroalkyls (PAC) to prevent grease from leaking through them. These have been proven to get into the human body. PAC changes to a more harmful form inside the human body and can cause numerous health problems.^[11] The United State's National Institute of Health stated that while other sources of this pollutant exist, the wrappers should be "considered as a significant indirect source of human PFCA contamination."^[12]

Degree of fast food consumption

On average nearly one-third of U.S children aged 4 to 19 eat fast food on a daily basis. Over the course of a year this bad habit is likely to result in the child gaining six extra pounds every year. ^[13]

In a research experiment done by Pediatrics, 6,212 children and adolescents ages 4 to 19 years old were examined to find out some information about fast food. After interviewing the participants in the experiment, it was discovered that on a given day 30.3% of the total sample have reported to have eaten fast food. Fast-food consumption was prevalent in both males and females, all racial/ethnic groups, and all regions of the country.^[14]

Children who ate fast food, compared with those who did not, consumed more total fat, carbohydrates, and sugar-sweetened beverages. Children who ate fast food also ate less fiber, milk, fruits, and non-starchy vegetables. After reviewing these test results, the researchers concluded that consumption of fast food by children seems to have a negative effect on an individual's diet, in ways that could significantly increase the risk for obesity.^[15]

See also

• Diet and obesity
• Obesity in the United States
• Heart Attack Grill

Media and publications:

• Fast Food Nation
• Super Size Me
• Panic Nation

References

1. ^ Robin Croft (2006), Folklore, families and fear: understanding consumption decisions through the oral tradition, Journal of Marketing Management, 22:9/10, pp1053-1076, ISSN 0267-257X
2. ^ ^{a b} "Fast Food, Race/Ethnicity, and Income: A Geographic Analysis". http://minority-health.pitt.edu/archive/00000469/01/Fast_Food,_Race-Ethnicity,and_Income.pdf. 
3. ^ "Why fast foods are bad, even in moderation". http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn9318. 
4. ^ ^{a b} Warner
5. ^ ^{a b c} Obesity
6. ^ http://www.healthy-eating-politics.com/usda-food-pyramid.html
7. ^ Schiosser E. Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal. New York, NY: Houghton Mifflin; 2001.
8. ^ http://vm.cfsan.fda.gov/~lrd/tpnovel.html
9. ^ http://vm.cfsan.fda.gov/~lrd/tpnovel.html
10. ^ http://www.aafp.org/afp/2006/0915/p991.html
11. ^ http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-mercola/fast-food-health_b_800297.html
12. ^ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=Environmental+health+perspectives[Jour]+AND+2010[pdat]+AND+D%27eon[author]&cmd=detailssearch
13. ^ Holguin,J.(2003, January 5)."Fast Food Linked to Child Obesity."In CBSnews.
14. ^ "Effects of fast-food consumption on energy intake and diet quality among children in a national household survey." Pediatrics 113.1 (2004): 112-118. E-Journals. EBSCO. Web. 27 Oct. 2009.
15. ^ "Effects of fast-food consumption on energy intake and diet quality among children in a national household survey." Pediatrics 113.1 (2004): 112-118. E-Journals. EBSCO. Web. 27 Oct. 2009.