HERBSPHERE
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‘Fast Food Chains are getting Fruity’ The good news is that the Fast-Food Industry is starting to get fruity. It could be argued that if McDonald’s, Kentucky Fried, Burger King and a few more had never visited UK shores and Europe, the obesity epidemic might not have occurred this side of the Atlantic, but until Science comes up with the biggest analysed unknown or unpublicized offenders to our girth, we don’t know precisely what food and/or drinks are especially pernicious. We do know that unhealthy amounts of too much sugar, fat and salt have been added to the diet in food processed since WWII, and that Lifestyle changes or lack of exercise have compounded their effects on the body. However, it is possible that one change in particular can account for the body not processing what is eaten properly. A potential culprit in the USA, which also applies in the UK, is alteration to oils, hydrogenation of oils and Trans fatty acids. For example: “… When one hydrogen atom is moved to the other side of the fatty acid molecule during hydrogenation, the ability of living cells to make reactions at the site is compromised or altogether lost. Trans fatty acids are sufficiently similar to natural fats that the body readily incorporates them into the cell membrane; once there their altered chemical structure creates havoc with thousands of necessary chemical reactions—everything from energy provision to prostaglandin production. …”1 The full story of this one major change to dietary intake, ‘The Oiling of America’ is well worth reading and digesting, because it just may be that this one or another similar change or changes to the daily diet is responsible over a few decades for what is happening with overweight and obesity now. Meanwhile, it is reported in Atlanta, USA, that Chick-fil-A , a fast-food chain known for its fried-chicken sandwiches, is adding cups of sliced apples, grapes, pineapple and oranges to its menu to give customers a healthier alternative – a meal that includes water and a char-grilled chicken sandwich, which has 270 calories and 3.5 g. of fat. Last month, McDonald’s launched adult Happy Meals, complete with salad, bottled water, pedometer and health advice. The Fast-Food industry, which uses a lot of oils, has been targeted by lawsuits and criticism for leading the United States nation down the road to obesity is moving towards healthier alternatives. But the cost of providing fresh fruit, which is problematic in preparation and storage, is more expensive. Exchanging chips (fries) for fruit in a Chick-fil-A combo meal costs about 40 cents (£0.22p) more – a regular-sized fruit cup sells for $1.85 (£1.00) and large size $2.85 (£1.54). This is a good move, but once again it is the lower-income public with young families who have always been the target of Fast-Food vendors and who may not be able to take advantage or afford such good initiatives towards eating more healthfully. COMMENT: These ‘alongside’ innovations by the Fast Food Industry to change their ‘image’ and to actually provide some alternative to pure fatty foods is a good thing in itself, but it does not alter the major players’ position in the Food Industry as a whole when it comes to what else besides fatty Fast Foods the public buys. A list of what would need altered to make our food more healthy is phenomenal in terms of what the wider Food Industry would have to do and gives some idea of the size and magnanimity of attitude required to deal with the magnitude of the problem regarding hydrogenated oils alone – the costs may be considered insurmountable:
Foods Almost Always Made With Partially Hydrogenated Oils
Many Brands of these Foods are Made with Partially Hydrogenated
Oils
Foods that usually do not contain Partially Hydrogenated Oils
References: 1 ‘Chick-fil-A adding fruit to menu’ by Daniel Ye, Associated Press. 2 The Weston Price Foundation – The Oiling of America by Mary Enig PhD and Sally Fallon (Parts I, II & III) www.westonaprice.org/know_your_fats/oiling.html 3 www.recoverymedicine.com/hydrogenated_oil_containing_foods.htm
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