The Pros and Cons of Fast Food

Fast food! It lives up its name, its fast and its food. The demand of fast food already became a necessity. Most people replace our regular breakfast, lunch and dinner to these fast foods, in example McDonald’s, KFC, Wendy’s and Pizza Hut. We all know it became a part of our lives, but we are not that sure the effects of fast food brought to us, so today we will discover it here. =)

The Pros of Fast food
Economics
Fast food industries play the important role in the society in term of economics. We use some country as example, the typical fast food nation United States of America.

• The McDonald’s Corporation has become a powerful symbol of America’s service economy, which is now responsible for 90 percent of the country’s new jobs. In 1968, McDonald’s operated about one thousand restaurants. Today it has about twenty-eight thousand restaurants worldwide and opens almost two thousand new ones each year. An estimated one out of every eight workers in the United States has at some point been employed by McDonald’s. The company annually hires about one million people, more than any other American organization, public or private

• McDonald’s is the nation’s largest purchaser of beef, pork, and potatoes - and the second largest purchaser of chicken.

• The McDonald’s Corporation is the largest owner of retail property in the world. Indeed, the company earns the majority of its profits not from selling food but from collecting rent.

• McDonald’s spends more money on advertising and marketing than any other brand. As a result it has replaced Coca-Cola as the world’s most famous brand.

(The information is taken from: http://www.nytimes.com/books/first/s/schlosser-fast.html)

The Cons of Fast Food
Burgers and fries always the top choices in fast food. People like it, buy it and eat it. They never know what is behind the curtain. Fast foods always related to health issue, where people should have always take note of it.

• Processed Meat
With the low price of food, we can already know that the cost of the industry spent on the food is low too, which means that the quality of food won’t get as good as fine dining. Processed meat is the best choice of the fast food chain to provide to consumers, because it is cheap and it can produce a lot. We can find Sodium Nitrite in processed meat in burgers, sausages, hams and also some instant food. Sodium Nitrite is dangerous and there is a believe that it is the primary cause of pancreatic cancer in humans who consume even moderate quantities of processed meats. The food industry use it because this chemical just happens to turn meats bright red.

• Obesity
Obesity has already became the main issue faced by americans. "The food industry would love to explain obesity as a problem of personal responsibility, since it takes the onus off them for marketing fast food, soft drinks, and other high-calorie, low-quality products," Ludwig says.However, "When you have calories that are incredibly cheap, in a culture where 'bigger is better,' that's a dangerous combination," says Walter Willett, M.D., D.P.H., professor of epidemiology and nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health.

• Heart attack and diabetes
Fast food can also consider as junk food. It contained high level of carbohydrates, sugar, salt and fat that will increase the level of cholesterols in blood and also extremely high level of salt (sodium) that will cause to the heart attack.

• Some other dieses
Food Additives: Unknown Effects
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) maintains a list of over 3,000 chemicals that are added to the processed food supply. These compounds do various things to food: add color, stabilize, texturize, preserve, sweeten, thicken, add flavor, soften, emulsify and more.
Potential side effects from the additives vary, and are controversial. For just one common food additive, monosodium glutamate (MSG), for example, the following symptoms have been reported: Numbness, Burning sensation, Tingling, Facial pressure or tightness, Chest pain, Headache, Nausea, Rapid heartbeat, Drowsiness, Weakness, Difficulty breathing for asthmatics. As is the case with most food additives, some people have no side effects, but others may become ill.
(The information is taken from: http://www.sixwise.com/newsletters/05/10/19/all-the-health-risks-of-processed-foods----in-just-a-few-quick-convenient-bites.htm)

This is an interesting video clip that can help you make decision to eat fast food or not to eat it.

These are the pros and cons about fast food. It is up to you to make decision to eat fast food. Either enjoy the excitement for a little moment and suffer for the whole life, or practice the healthier life style to live longer with your loves one. =)


by,
Peggi