Why Fast-food Eating Americans Are Getting the Short End of the Stick

I will never advocate the consumption of fast food. These “foods” are actually nothing more than chemical concoctions designed to stimulate your tastebuds and save time. There is nothing nourishing about them and they truly wreak havoc throughout your body. My vote is for you to ditch them pronto!

That being said, I still know that many people love, (and may never part with), their occasional fast food indulgence. If you’re not going to ditch fast foods entirely (which I HIGHLY recommend), fighting for healthier options in fast food restaurants seems like the next best thing. Here are a few highlights from an article by Food Babe entitled, McDonald’s serves WHAT in London?! The outrageous double standard in fast food.

Though many Americans do not realize it...

“.....it’s a common practice for food companies (everyone from Betty Crocker to Pringles to Quaker Oats) to reformulate their products with safer ingredients overseas, while they continue to sell us inferior products with unhealthy ingredients here in the States.

in fact…...

“McDonald’s serves organic milk to children in the U.K.? But not here in the U.S.?”

The UK also serves salad bar at Pizza Hut, turkey and ham sandwiches with less sugar at Subway, pumpkin spice lattes without caramel coloring level IV, and smaller Krispy Kreme doughnuts with less sugar, options that are simply unavailable in the United States. To add insult to injury, many fast food chains also make lower sugar options in the UK than they do in the US. According to Food Babe,

“McDonald’s large chocolate shake in the UK has 67 grams of sugar, compared with 120 grams of sugar in the US.

Subway’s turkey and ham sandwich contain 56% more sugar in the US than in the UK.

Starbucks venti pumpkin spice lattes contain 58% more sugar in the US compared to the UK version. “

This article also discusses the difference in the quality and number of ingredients used in common fast foods like McDonald’s french fries and Starbuck’s pumpkin spice lattes. It’s truly sad to see. Unfortunately, concern for the wellbeing of their customers doesn’t seem to be enough for fast food companies to provide “healthier” options in the US like they already do in other countries. 

Let’s also remember that restaurants in the UK are required to inform consumers about the presence of GMOs (genetically modified ingredients) in their foods. Because most people want to eliminate GMOs from their diet, many UK restaurants avoid their use entirely. In other words, a little consumer pressure can go a long way. Read the full article here.

My Take on this:

As I stated before, consuming fast food is never a great idea. Even if these companies agree to implement the healthier options available in other countries, they will still never be “healthy.” That being said, I do believe it is still worthwhile to put pressure on these companies to create healthier options to reduce the health risk for fast food consumers. I just hope you’re not one of them.

Just say no to fast food! Fight for improved quality control in fast food restaurants only to improve the lives of others and stick to the whole foods that Mother Nature so graciously provided. This way, you will never have to worry about the excessive sugar or nasty, frankenfood chemicals and food additives in fast food products again. It’s just that simple.