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I'm not sure I agree with that. I think the fast food industry gives a false impression because they started out with fattening food. But all the current fast

by SamAtt 16y ago

I'm not sure I agree with that. I think the fast food industry gives a false impression because they started out with fattening food. But all the current fast food places were founded a relatively short time ago (McDonalds: '55, Burger King: '53, KFC: '52, Taco Bell: '62, Pizza Hut: '58) and as they've evolved their menus have become healthier. Beyond that technology is paving the way for a less fattening diet. Diet soft drinks, soy burgers, and other low calorie foods have gotten dramatically better tasting in just the last 20 years or so (It's actually getting to the point where those Diet Dr. Pepper ads are almost true). At the same time we've developed Appetite Suppressants (the most popular of which, Hoodia gordonii, wasn't even patented until 1996) and other prescription drugs to fight obesity. So really the trend seems to be towards healthier, less fattening food. We're just at the beginning of the curve.

timwiseman 16y ago
* they've evolved their menus have become healthier.* Have you looked at the nutrition facts lately? Or seen the new commercials for KFC heart attack of two pieces of fried chicken with bacon and cheese in between? I wasn't around when the fast food places you mention were founded, but if this is the trend towards healthier then I am amazed people survived for any length of time after they emerged. (Granted, many have added healthier options lately, but that is in addition to pushing junk food to even greater extremes.)
- patrickgzill 16y ago
  Quarter Double Pounder with Cheese is is worse than the KFC Double Down, believe it or not!
- SamAtt 16y ago
  Given the healthy options didn't exist up until a few years ago I'd call that moving towards healthier menu items. Of course they're going to try to appeal to already existing audience that wants junk food but in the end we've gone from "no healthy options" to "a variety of healthy options" in less than a decade while the junk food items have declined (McDonalds doing away with Super Sizing as just one example)
  - timwiseman 16y ago
    Adding healthy options is progress, but I think adding health options is very different from the overall menu becoming healthier. The junk food items have grown not declined though. And McDonald's no longer advertises supersizing, but they will ask if you medium or large and I think large is the same as supersizing was. That is a change in marketing, not in offerings in any way.
  - dmoney 16y ago
    What used to be called super size is now just large.
- krschultz 16y ago
  I can walk into any McDonals in america, order a grilled chicken sandwich with no mayo, a bottle of water, and have a legitametly healthy meal any time I want. You couldn't do that in in previous decades because they only had fried chicken. So the tools are out there, people just choose to continue ordering the triple quarter pounder.
  - jules 16y ago
    Does it come with vegetables? Does it come with some kind of energy source other than meat?
    - c0riander 16y ago
      To be fair, the bun is chock-full of carbs (namely: energy).
  - xiaoma 16y ago
    Since when has corn-fed chicken slapped between white bread buns been "legitimately healthy"? Do people in N. America somehow not need fruits or vegetables as long as they get meat every single time they saddle up to the table?
- hugh3 16y ago
  I had a Double Down the other day. It was unspectacular; not tasty enough to be good, not disgusting enough to be an adventure. Anyway, it only has 540 calories, which is actually pretty modest.
- jcnnghm 16y ago
  The double down isn't that bad. The grilled one would be the perfect sandwich to have after lifting weights.
eru 16y ago
Anything with "diet" in the name is not automagically healthier.
- LargeWu 16y ago
  Indeed. If you're familiar with Michael Pollan's Food Rules, one of them is 'Avoid anything processed that makes health claims'
jseifer 16y ago
None of the things you mention are actually healthy though. It's terribly unfortunate that they're going in the wrong direction.

by SamAtt 16y ago

timwiseman 16y ago

* they've evolved their menus have become healthier.* Have you looked at the nutrition facts lately? Or seen the new commercials for KFC heart attack of two pieces of fried chicken with bacon and cheese in between? I wasn't around when the fast food places you mention were founded, but if this is the trend towards healthier then I am amazed people survived for any length of time after they emerged. (Granted, many have added healthier options lately, but that is in addition to pushing junk food to even greater extremes.)

patrickgzill 16y ago
Quarter Double Pounder with Cheese is is worse than the KFC Double Down, believe it or not!
SamAtt 16y ago
Given the healthy options didn't exist up until a few years ago I'd call that moving towards healthier menu items. Of course they're going to try to appeal to already existing audience that wants junk food but in the end we've gone from "no healthy options" to "a variety of healthy options" in less than a decade while the junk food items have declined (McDonalds doing away with Super Sizing as just one example)
- timwiseman 16y ago
  Adding healthy options is progress, but I think adding health options is very different from the overall menu becoming healthier. The junk food items have grown not declined though. And McDonald's no longer advertises supersizing, but they will ask if you medium or large and I think large is the same as supersizing was. That is a change in marketing, not in offerings in any way.
- dmoney 16y ago
  What used to be called super size is now just large.
krschultz 16y ago
I can walk into any McDonals in america, order a grilled chicken sandwich with no mayo, a bottle of water, and have a legitametly healthy meal any time I want. You couldn't do that in in previous decades because they only had fried chicken. So the tools are out there, people just choose to continue ordering the triple quarter pounder.
- jules 16y ago
  Does it come with vegetables? Does it come with some kind of energy source other than meat?
  - c0riander 16y ago
    To be fair, the bun is chock-full of carbs (namely: energy).
- xiaoma 16y ago
  Since when has corn-fed chicken slapped between white bread buns been "legitimately healthy"? Do people in N. America somehow not need fruits or vegetables as long as they get meat every single time they saddle up to the table?
hugh3 16y ago
I had a Double Down the other day. It was unspectacular; not tasty enough to be good, not disgusting enough to be an adventure. Anyway, it only has 540 calories, which is actually pretty modest.
jcnnghm 16y ago
The double down isn't that bad. The grilled one would be the perfect sandwich to have after lifting weights.

eru 16y ago

Anything with "diet" in the name is not automagically healthier.

LargeWu 16y ago
Indeed. If you're familiar with Michael Pollan's Food Rules, one of them is 'Avoid anything processed that makes health claims'

jseifer 16y ago

None of the things you mention are actually healthy though. It's terribly unfortunate that they're going in the wrong direction.