[duck]

Originally Posted by JediSkipdogg

Personally, I don't see that doing anything. One problem is Americans don't know what any of that nutritional info means. That alone is a problem.

When I was in school, my girlfriend at the time was studying to be a Registered Dietitian (she is now an MS, RD, CDE, yadda yadda yadda, she knew her sh*t). She lamented about how poorly educated Americans were about nutrition, that "skim" milk sells so poorly because Americans think "skim" means less nutrition, not less fat.

:rolling eyes:

[Cyborg]

What's the point of this debate? I agree that fast food chains have much more unhealthy food than healthy food. People still buy the healthy stuff. Just because you don't or you don't see it doesn't mean they don't. I do!

My point to you was that you should not stereotype Americans as wanting this stuff and not caring about their health and as accepting being overweight as normal. I don't stereotype African Americans, or Mexicans, or Koreans, etc... Stereotyping is wrong. That was my point.

[Cyborg]

Originally Posted by duck

When I was in school, my girlfriend at the time was studying to be a Registered Dietitian (she is now an MS, RD, CDE, yadda yadda yadda, she knew her sh*t). She lamented about how poorly educated Americans were about nutrition, that "skim" milk sells so poorly because Americans think "skim" means less nutrition, not less fat.

:rolling eyes:

Education, yes... From the parents and from the broken school system (at least in this sense).

[JediSkipdogg]

Originally Posted by Cyborg

What's the point of this debate? I agree that fast food chains have much more unhealthy food than healthy food. People still buy the healthy stuff. Just because you don't or you don't see it doesn't mean they don't. I do!

My point to you was that you should not stereotype Americans as wanting this stuff and not caring about their health and as accepting being overweight as normal. I don't stereotype African Americans, or Mexicans, or Koreans, etc... Stereotyping is wrong. That was my point.

I'm stereotyping a reality and providing what studies have shown. Like I said in an earlier post, a few weeks ago one news company did an article on McDonalds and their food throughout the world. Here is one quote from the article..

"A large meal of chicken nuggets and french fries at McDonald's in the United States contained 10.1 grams of trans fatty acids, while the same meal in France contained 5.9 grams and just 0.33 grams in Denmark, Steen Stender, who headed the research project, told AFP."

The study shows the United states had the highest amount of trans fat in the study and Denmark had the least. Why do we have those differences? If Americans cared more about their health, they would not eat the bad food and wait till fast food places serve healthier food. Yet people go back for more and more all the time.

[duck]

Cyborg, if MickeyD's started selling only salad and health food, they would go out of business, plain and simple. They have been trying for years to add healthier choices to their menu, with little success. Maybe they need a wheat-bun low-fat burger, but as it is, none of their other "healthier" burgers have done well for them at all.

[DeusXM]

To be honest, despite being a total cynic when it comes to big business (I'm a hardcore socialist/borderline Communist that would be overjoyed if most infrastructure biz was state owned, but that's another debate), I totally fail to see why McDonald's have a responsibility to sell healthy food. No-one forces you to eat at McDonald's. No-one forces you to eat unhealthily. No-one forces you to eat a supersize meal.

If you don't want to eat unhealthy foods, then just eat somewhere else. Or make your own food. Yes, it's more work. Yes, it's more effort. But here's the kick. If EVERYONE did that, then all these fast food places would see their profits crumble and then they'd have to get their act together.

All food outlets should be forced to provide nutrition info on all their products but beyond that, responsibility lies with you. If you can't make the time to prepare healthy meals, then tough. Find the time. Or find yourself with a heart attack.

[HelenM]

Signs of change in the UK.
A long article in this weeks Sunday Times describes a fall in growth of McDonalds in the UK. They are shutting 25 restaurants, changing menus to healthier choices in others, even completely changing restaurant formats in others.
In the same newspaper is another article describing the effect of a new 'traffic light' coded food labelling (for fat, saturates,sugar and salt) in some supermarkets. The sales of higher fat products has apparently fallen by up to 40% and sales of lower fat products have risen. One supermarket executive said
' We have seen significant changes in customer behaviour ..if we make our products more healthy, more people are buying them'
So its becoming profitable to sell healthier products.
I'm not saying that things have changed completely, far from it ! but I do think that all the recent TV programs on healthier eating have been having an effect. Whether it will be permanent is a different matter.

[psilocybin]

i eat a big mac the odd time...maybe once every, i know how unhelathy it is...i found an interesting article about how mcdonalds fries have different fat portions depending on the state in the US they were made in....kind of interesting

[Jaclyn]

Originally Posted by Cyborg

If McDonalds does what they say they are going to do, which is put nutritional information on all the food containers and wrappers of all their food items they sell, then other fast food places will have to do so. This will arm consumers with the knowledge they need to make smarter choices. I believe this will ultimately force the fast food chains into a war to deliver healthier food items without pushing them as diet foods. It will end up bringing a major change to the fast food industry. If no other fast food places participate, McDonalds might just yank it like they did the "McLean" since they would be the only ones exposing the evil contents of their food.

Ive seen the nutritonal info on the backs of there happy meals. but no where before ordering......

[Cyborg]

Originally Posted by Jaclyn

Ive seen the nutritonal info on the backs of there happy meals. but no where before ordering......

Hopefully it's a wake up call. I stopped ordering happy meals for my kids. I've got my son eating grilled chicken sandwiches, a side salad and maybe a yogurt parfait once in awhile for desert. My daughter is young and still learning new foods. I'm still trying to get her "off" of the chicken nuggets that my mother-in-law has helped gotten her hooked on!

[Jaclyn]

Originally Posted by Cyborg

Hopefully it's a wake up call. I stopped ordering happy meals for my kids. I've got my son eating grilled chicken sandwiches, a side salad and maybe a yogurt parfait once in awhile for desert. My daughter is young and still learning new foods. I'm still trying to get her "off" of the chicken nuggets that my mother-in-law has helped gotten her hooked on!

haha she must be 3 or 4? having same problem with my 3 1/2 year old....

[Cyborg]

Originally Posted by Jaclyn

haha she must be 3 or 4? having same problem with my 3 1/2 year old....

Yes, she is 4... Stupid McDonalds!

[sugarfree76]

Whopper w/0 the chez FTW

[psilocybin]

i eat a big mac and manage to keep my sugars between 4-7 the whole time its digesting. works fine...why not eat one the odd time dont effect my a1cs

[Mister Q]

I wonder how long before we start seeing 'class action' law suits against the fast food giants for causing obesity??