The Fast Food Diet

Recently, McDonalds has announced that it will release new packaging for most of its products beginning after the Olympic games of 2006. In order to improve the image that indeed, McDonalds food can be healthy, bar charts and other nutritional information will be displayed relating the calorie, fat and sodium count of their food to the daily recommended values for those and other nutritional information. Over the past years, McDonalds has worked to promote the idea that they are, at least in some cases, a healthy alternative to home-cooked meals. Premium salads, low-calorie dressings, non-beef sandwiches, and alternatives to French fries, such as side salads and sliced apples, have been available on menus across the world for those wishing to watch their intake of fatty and unhealthy foods.

For years, especially since the release of the documentary entitled “SuperSize Me,” hundreds of lawsuits have been filed against McDonalds and other fast-food restaurants in the United States, claiming that the food purchased at such restaurants make people obese. Though most of these lawsuits have been dismissed, the image of McDonalds has suffered dramatically. Through all of these lawsuits, however, McDonalds has stuck to its belief that their food is part of “an active, healthy lifestyle.”

The Center for Science in the Public Interest, which is a health promotion faction that aims to increase health awareness to the public, believes that this step made by McDonalds is a valuable step toward giving consumers better dietary information. However, they also believe that they should provide nutritional information on the menu boards inside the stores and in the drive-thru’s.

Personally, I believe that McDonalds has done more than is necessary to raise awareness about eating healthily. I have been an employee of McDonalds for over three years, and during my employment there, I have witnessed the comings-and-goings of countless “health food” options on the menu. Between fruit and yogurt parfaits, side salads, premium chicken salads, apple dippers, fruit and walnut salads, low calorie dressings(which, by the way, are used because all profits are donated to charities), bottled water, milk, and apple juice, grilled chicken sandwiches and fish sandwiches, there is a plethora of non-fat foods available. A number of these foods are even available for a dollar or less, for those who are on a budget. Because these foods are displayed prominently on the menu boards, both in and outside of the store, there is absolutely no reason that any customer would be more likely to choose a greasy food than a healthy food.

McDonalds employees are trained to direct questioning customers toward the toll-free 800 number or the free pamphlets located inside of every dining room. I personally find it ridiculous that any person would blame another for their own eating habits. I believe that if a person thinks that McDonalds food makes them fat, they ought to stop eating it. There is nothing that indicates that French fries and Big Macs are addictive, so there is no argument that one must continue to eat “unhealthy” food. Firstly, eating anything, even foods like apples and tofu, can be hazardous to your health if it is eaten excessively. An apple a day keeps the doctor away, right? Well, maybe, but 20 apples a day surely won’t. Secondly, even at places, like Subway, for example, that claim to be full of low-fat foods and where people happen to lose hundreds of pounds every day, fattening foods are plentiful. Take, for example, the12 inch tuna sandwich. 1060 calories and 2060 grams of sodium. Plus a cookie, 220 calories and 200 grams of sodium, and of course, a bag of Lays. That’s 300 calories and 760 grams of sodium, for a total of 1580 calories and 3020 grams of sodium for a single meal, whereas at McDonalds you can get a #1 (that is, Big Mac, medium Fry, and medium Coca-Cola) for a grand total of 1120 calories and 1240 grams of sodium. So where does the problem lie?
Here is an example. A middle-aged man comes into McDonalds every single day, twice a day. He orders a small coffee and a fruit salad for breakfast around eight o’clock in the morning, then around seven in the evening, he orders a double cheeseburger without the bun and with lettuce, and a small diet coke. He explained to me once, when I asked him about the whole “no bun, please” thing, that he had been n the no-carb diet for a year and a half, and that thus far, he had lost 100 pounds. Wow. Then, I have a customer who comes in nearly every day, quite a bit younger than the other man, and orders his favorite: a large sized #4 (which is, for all you less McD’s savvy, a double quarter pounder with cheese meal) and 2 apple pies. He is quite obese. Of course, I don’t know exactly why he is obese, but I contribute his weight to his unhealthy eating habits. Heart attack, anyone?
In conclusion, I believe that McDonalds is going far beyond the necessary by providing in-your-face nutritional information on the wrappers of food. Those who eat unhealthily will continue to eat unhealthily, whether they are presented with cold, hard numbers or not. If someone doesn’t realize that eating a #4 every day is bad for his health, then reading a package won’t help him. Healthful, cost-friendly food is displayed on nearly every surface at McDonalds, and trivial lawsuits placing blame on innocent (at least to some degree) companies is a waste of everyone’s time. I know, from personal experience, having been instructed to promote the new fruit and walnut salads when taking orders, that even when offered a healthy (and tasty) alternative to a greasy meal, most will not take advantage of it. As said by Dr. Louis Sullivan, the former Secretary of Health and Human Services to the United States, I believe that McDonalds has come up with a “creative approach that is scientifically sound and communicates complex information in a clear and accessible way.” Obesity is a major problem in the United States, and though, clearly, putting nutritional information on fast food won’t solve that, but at least some major corporations in America are taking serious steps toward raising awareness.

Source: “McDonalds to Post Nutrition Information on Food” by Dave Carpenter of the Associated Press. 10/25/2005.