Is The Food At Fast-Food Restaurants Of Nutritional Quality?
Food is a fuel for our body. It has a direct impact on our overall health. Fast food isn’t necessarily bad, but in many cases it’s highly processed and hence contain large amount of carbohydrates, added sugar, unhealthy fats, and salt (sodium). They are generally low in nutrients (eg. Vitamins, minerals and fibres). Fast foods are easy to make and quick to consume, they are zero in nutritional value and often high in fat, salt, sugar, and/or calories. Common fast foods include french fries, burger, pizza, sandwiches etc. Fast food/Junks have become major problem and many countries are taking action against it by banning junk foods advertising in children programs, removing it from schools and even imposing a fat tax on it. Many fast foods contain trans fats, they behave like saturated fat when they get in the body. They tend to clog up the human arteries which can further lead to heart diseases and stroke symptom. Eating fast-food on regular basis can lead to obesity, diabetes mellitus cardiovascular diseases, teeth and bone decay, renal failure, cognitive brain and issues like depression.
According to Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, most people underestimate the no. of calories they take in fast-food restaurants. A 2013 study published in JAMA Pediatrics showed that children and adolescents take in more calories in fast food restaurants than at home[1].
Most studies on the effects of food marketing have focused on television advertisements, with less attention paid to marketing that occurs in or around restaurants. Unfortunately, the majority of such marketing promotes unhealthy foods to attract consumers. One study from 2010 found that 75 % of menu items featured on signs in (US) fast-food restaurants were of poor nutritional quality.[2]
Let’s Move! a campaign in U.S, led by Michelle Obama was launched in 2010. The campaign aims to reduce childhood obesity and encourage a healthy lifestyle in children and with so many Americans being obese, President Obama signed a new law into the health care reform bill that requires every big restaurant chain to post calorie information on every menu and drive-thru sign, as well as the amount of calories a healthy person should eat.
However numerous efforts are being made to encourage the fast-food industry to improve the nutritional quality of their menu offerings. Like in September 2012, McDonald’s started posting energy (calorie) information on menus nationwide to enable nutrition-minded choices. Also in 2012, Burger King added foods like salads and fruit smoothies to its menu. In 2011, the National Restaurant Association launched Kids LiveWell, a voluntary programme to offer and promote at least one kids’ meal that meets the programme’s nutrition criteria. Another voluntary, self-regulatory programme is the Children’s Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative (CFBAI), which began in 2006 and aims to improve the quality of foods advertised to children. Eighteen US food and beverage companies participate in the CFBAI, including Burger King and McDonald’s[3]. Apart from this, California, New York, and some municipalities, policies have been implemented that place limits on restaurants’ use of trans-fatty-acid– containing oils, margarines, and shortenings in food preparation. In addition to changes that are motivated by changes in governmental policy, some fast-food restaurants have announced plans to make improvements to the nutritional quality of their food on their own initiative. For example, the leading fast-food restaurant has aimed to lower the sodium content of several items. Fast-food restaurants also have been active in the self-promotion of healthy food items with the use of terms such as ‘wholesome’, ‘natural’, and ‘fresh’. Despite qualitative evidence that the fast-food industry is making improvements to the nutritional quality of at least some of their menu items, a quantitative evaluation of trends in the nutritional quality of fast food available in the marketplace is lacking says lead investigator Mary Hearst.[4]
Fourteen-year study shows that fast-food restaurants have made minimal improvement to the nutritional value of their items on their menus. Researchers took eight fast-food restaurant chains in U.S and used their data from 1997 to 2010. They relied on Healthy Eating Index (HEI-2005). The metric was created on the scale to 1 to 100. In year 1997, the restaurants averaged a score of 45 and by 2010, the score was just 48. Not only the score didn’t improve for vegetables, fruits etc but also got worsened for milk/dairy sodium. Therefore, on comparison, there was just a tiny increase in the score. Despite efforts to improve the quality of food in fast-food industry, a study published in America Journal of Preventive Medicine reveals there is a modest improvement in average nutritional quality of menu offerings across eight fast-food restaurant chains, which is consistent with both legislative efforts and the industry’s own statements about creating healthier menu options. Hence nutritional quality at fast-food restaurants still needs improvement.[5]
Then in 2013, researcher took four fat food restaurants chains in 2010 and 2013. Menu items pictured on signs and menu boards were recorded at 400 fast-food restaurants across the USA. The Nutrient Profile Index (NPI) was used to calculate overall nutrition scores for items i.e higher scores indicate greater nutritional quality. Changes over time in NPI scores and energy of promoted foods and beverages were analyzed using linear regression. As a result, promoted foods and beverages on general menu boards and signs remained below the ‘healthier’ cut-off at both time points however on general menu boards, pictured items became modestly healthier from 2010 to 2013. Foods and beverages pictured on the kids’ section showed the greatest nutritional improvements. Although promoted foods on general menu boards and signs improved in nutritional quality, beverages remained the same or became worse. Thus fast-food restaurants showed limited improvement in nutritional quality in 2013 v. 2010. Despite limited improvements, marketed items nevertheless were on average of poor nutritional quality in 2013. These findings highlight that fast-food restaurants still have ample opportunity to market healthier foods and beverages at stores. [6]
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Shweta Rao
INBA- Intern
[1]Vinoth Kalaiselvan, Fast food and deleterious health effects, available at: https://www.academia.edu/33518228/FAST_FOOD_AND_DELETERIOUS_HEALTH_EFFECTS (last visited on December 18, 2019)
[2]Jackie Soo, ”Changes in the nutritional quality of fast food items marketed at restaurants, 2010 v. 2013”, 21 CUP 2117 (2018).
[3]Supra note 2 at 2118.
[4] Mary O. Hearst, “Nutritional quality at eight U.S fast-food chains: 14 year trends”, 44 AJPM 589 (2013).
[5] Supra note 4 at 590.
[6]Id. at 2119.