Benefits of Menu Labeling

Increasing the options of fast food restaurants in America gave society different choices of where they can choose to go eat. Some restaurants may be cheaper than others, but what society didn’t realize was the cheaper the restaurant the more calories the food contains. The consumers didn’t seem to realize or have a problem with these cheaper companies until some consumers sued the company for getting them fat. This caused children to sue Mcdonald's the company for making the consumers get fat. For this reason, according to the author David Zinczenko it is a problem that people are not informed on how many calories the food they're eating contains. He has the credibility to be trusted by his audience

In Zinczenko’s article he said, "that there are a lack of alternate food options and there are no calorie information charts on fast food packaging, the way there are on grocery items (Zinczenko 394).” This information Zinczenko states may have been true back in 2002 but now of days, government is stepping in. According to the New York Times, President Obama signed off in 2011 that any American patron that enters into a McDonalds, Starbucks, Burger king, or any major restaurant chain, will be required to put calorie information on their menus and drive-through signs. This legislation also requires labels on food items in vending machines. In addition, anyone can find any

Zinczencko complains that unlike many other hazardous items, fast food does not come with warnings on how terrible the food is for one’s health and its future effects. He emphasizes that even if the customers were able to obtain the nutritional facts, they are not palpable, but rather obscure. He points out that the fast-food companies make the nutrition labels vague and misleading; they calculate the calories for every separate part of the meal, and they make it so the consumer must pay attention to serving size as well. He observes that the fast-food industry can get away with confusing labels because there are not any Food and Drug Administration labeling requisites (Word Smart, p. 220) covering fast food. Zinczenko complains that there is not any sort of nutritional labeling on the menus at fast-food restaurants. Now, nine years later, there are some changes, but his point is still valid. McDonald’s menu now states the calories of each meal, but as Zinczenko points out, it is very difficult to

Research shows that when such information is given, customers use it to limit the way they eat. This can consume an average loss of calories than they typically did before labeling. This trend poses increased risk, not just in terms of calories, but in terms of unhealthful ingredients such as fat and sodium. According to the passage, "the U.S. government agrees that restaurant meals should be labeled. It is part of the Affordable Care Act of 2010, which requires that standard menu items include information on nutrition 1". This poses that fast food places and restaurants should in fact label information, not only for ones own health but it is required.

First of all, if restaurants had food labels, people would be eating a lot healthier. In one study stated by the passage "Label the Meals", it showed that the one fourth of people who use this information when it is available use it to limit what they eat, and they eat, on average, 400 fewer calories than people who do not use the label. While the passage "We Don't Need Labels" states that people who said they ate a healthier meal knowing this really didn't, they already knew what they were eating, therefore, they knew they could afford to eat there. Another thing is that, if your trying to stay fit and healthy, while exercise is important, food is the most important thing to worry about. Food is what powers you up for the day,

If restaurants did not have these nutritional facts people on diets would not know what they are eating. They will assume that it is healthy when it is not. Some pregnant women have to eat a certain type of foods for their baby. Some pregnant women need to eat less or more calories, carbs, vitamins, and fats. At Walmart you are able to see what some items are like they will use the words “ Lite, Lowfat, or Heart Smart.” If restaurants had something similar or, just have the information we would have healthy babies and healthy citizens. In the passage “Label the Meals,” it states that “only 18 percent of people started to go out to eat in the 1977 30 years later the percentage almost doubled.” If resturants did not have these facts posted a

America has been faced with the growing obesity epidemic. This is becoming very wide spread among all races and class levels due in part to the abundance of inexpensive food available and how easily people are becoming persuaded to but things they do not need. David Zinczenko published article “Don’t Blame the Eater”, Zinczenko argues that fast-food industries are not doing their job to provide clear enough nutritional information for hazardous food.

In the article “don’t blame the eater”, David Zinczenko focuses on the reason behind the obesity problem that the modern young generations are facing. According to him, the large chains of fast-food restaurants given their availability around the country and low prices are the ones causing this problem. He brings in his own life experience and tells the story of becoming a 212 pound teenager highlighting that he had to rely on these fast food chains for everyday meal. With a single mother, who worked long hours he had no other alternatives to this like many other American teens. The lack of information about the calorie content of the dishes on these restaurants was one other main concern. Most of these restaurants do not provide enough data about the calorie content of their dishes, and even if they do so its mostly vague and deceiving. To show the gravity of the problem he pulls out a statistics of an increase of 30% in type 2 diabetes resulting in an expense of hundreds of billions of dollars in healthcare. Zinczenko implies that this impact is as serious as smoking. Hence, fast food should have a warning label to raise awareness among the consumers. He addresses these food chains as vulnerable and warns these restaurants that they will find themselves in trouble unless they look out for their consumers. He also adds the further effects these food habits can have in our society.

To explore if nutrition labeling on menus influences awareness, use and food consumption, including traffic lights system and addition of other nutrients

The author explains, that growing number of overweight and obese are the result of processed foods and lack of nutritional information serve in the restaurant.

According to him, “There are no calorie information charts on fast-food packaging, the way there are on grocery items. Advertisements don’t carry warning labels the way tobacco ads do” (Zinczenko 463). Zinczenko that fast-food companies are “vulnerable,” and he urges the industry to protect its consumers (464). Zinczenko is right about the need of nutritional information for fast-food; however, common sense dictates that people should know not to eat at fast-food restaurants every day.

This is continuing to be a major concern as this “convenience” is causing an increase in weight from youth all the way to adults. It`s more typical in today 's age for families to be in a constant rush with work or their children 's schedules, that fast food becomes their instant go in order to save time. On average, families eat at a dine-in restaurant once a week while they go go through fast food drive thrus several times a week (Murphy). Being a high school and college student, it is extremely convenient with my busy and on the go constant schedule, to pull through a drive thru at a fast food restaurant and order something quick before heading to my next event. A recent survey from 50 various fast food customers showed how the convenience of a drive thru makes them select fast food locations more frequently chosen. 80% of the customers selected responded that they enjoy eating fast food and eat it on a daily basis. This is largely due to the fact that the wait time for meals at these locations are much shorter than dine in restaurants (Cox). As there is no way to beat this type of convenience when it comes to food, it is affecting people 's health at a vast rate. The blindness of the consumers to the content of the food is one of the greatest causes of the fast food epidemic and the health risks it brings. People are now becoming more at risk to more serious health issues from being overweight and continuing to put

First, I can agree most of half of the world don't look at the food labeling on the back when they order food, but that doesn't mean we just need to take food labeling off of food and menus completely. Positive things that the food labeling can provent is diabetes and heart problems. So by taking the food labeling off it can bring back many of theses problems for many people.Proven facts from the story labin the meals can support my facts too one sentence from the text that supports this is “The average purchase contained about 100 percent fewer calories when the information was provided. The U.S. government agrees that restaurant meals should be labeled. It is part of the Affordable Care Act of 2010, which requires that standard menu items include information on nutrition.

For decades the Fast-food industry has supplied Americans with tasty, comforting food, quickly and at a low cost. It was not until recently, when the health craze first hit America in the late 1980’s that the corporations developed a new approach to marketing health food products to fit their customer’s wants (Nielsen). The most common fast food chains, such as McDonalds and Subway, started advertising “healthier” food items on their menus to continue appealing to the general public. While fast food restaurants give the impression of offering healthy food, nutritionist studies show healthy alternatives are not as nutritious as advertised and can lead to possible calorie underestimation and overconsumption (Chandon 85). In order to

In the last decade, a lot of emphasis has been put on adopting healthy eating habits and informing the consumers that the healthy-eating option was available in fast-food restaurant chains. Interestingly, consumers eating in fast-food chains were found to be more likely to order fattening side dishes if they think that they are consuming a healthy diet (Men’s Fitness, March 2008). This observation is also true in Subway restaurants where a 12 inch Italian sandwich contains over 900 calories compared to the 600 calories BigMac from MacDonald’s (Wilson Quarterly, Winter 2008). Thinking they are eating “healthy”, Subway patrons then splurge on soft drinks, potato chips and desserts accompanying their sandwich, especially is they are offered as part of value meals.