A Defense of Hamburger "Hamburger is so unhealthy to eat," how often we hear such words like this. We are now at the nexus of an era that's filled with junk food, and the term hamburger has gradually become synonymous with junk food in a modern context. People so often ascribe the factors of their Weight Gain, blood pressure raise, and increased risk for heart disease to hamburgers. Nonetheless, does the hamburger legitimately deserve those convictions? Originated back from 1800's, a hamburger is basically a sliced bun consisting a patty, some cheese, and vegetables. Nowadays, the majority of consumed hamburgers come from fast food companies, which often choose to use low-quality and over-processed beef that's drenched in dietary cholesterol
In It's Portion Distortion That Makes America Fat, Shannon Brownlee addresses the difference from when fast food was introduced to now. Before burger, small fries, and a 12oz drink was considered a filling meal and was considered treat because it was not something that happened often. Now it’s know as a kids meal. The medium, large, and super-size sizes were attempts from the fast food corporations to maximise on small minded Americans willing to believe anything that is said by advertisements. A nation of the gullible believing that bigger is better. The extreme intake of saturated fat, sodium, and high fructose corn syrup is leading even the health people of America down the rabbit hole full of health complications, that promise to shed years that could have been full of joyful memories for family and friends off one's life. Obesity is not just about being overweight and eating unhealthy. Obesity is accompanied by diseases like heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, and some cancer. Obesity can cut someones life expectancy by ten years. Even the nation's youth are not safe. Zinczenko also explains the gravity of rise in childhood obesity “Before 1994, Diabetes in children was generally caused by a genetic disorder -- only 5 percent of childhood cases were obesity-related, or Type 2, diabetes. Today, according to the National institute of Health, Type 2 diabetes accounts for at least 30 percent of all new childhood cases of diabetes in this country.” The customary American diet is finally taking it’s toll on the
In David Zinczenko’s article “Don’t Blame the Eater” he focuses on the fast food industry and their role in the increasing health and obesity issues of our nation’s children, as well as these issues potentially becoming a serious problem that we will all have to deal with if we collectively don’t do something about it now. When it comes to the topic of fast food, most of us can agree that it is not the best source of nutrition. It is unhealthy and can be the cause of many serious health issues with our children such as obesity related Type 2 diabetes, stomach ulcers and even heart disease, high cholesterol, sleep apnea or even cancer. We can even agree that fast-food diets are a major contributing factor to
When you think of McDonald’s or Burger King you probably think of the Big Mac and the Whopper because they are their most famous sandwiches. “Two all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions, on a sesame seed
The high levels of calories, fat and sodium in most fast food Figure 2: In 2009 a cartoon by Vanessa about how contradiction and irony happened when "healthy meals" shows up in fast food restaurant
“Although many health authorities insist that there is no such thing as junk food, consumers find it a useful term for distinguishing nourishing food from products whose chief appeal is fun, convenience, and addictive taste; ‘bet you can't eat just one’ ”(Junk Food). Americans are spending about $4.6 billion a year on potato chips, and 23.5 billion a year on candy and gum. 46 Percent of adult Americans eat out on a typical day, and one third of them choose fast food. That is because the fast food industry has slowly become one of the symbols of American culture and is spreading to other cultures as well: McDonalds has 26,000 locations in 119 countries, Pizza Hut has more than 10,000 in 86 countries, and Subway has 14,500 in 75 countries. Commercials, signs, and huge advertisements are pushing junk food at us every day; people cannot even go to the grocery store without candy bars being lined up right by the checkout. The junk food industry realizes how appealing it can be. When a person is in a rush, they can easily eat a large meal without having to make a lot of decisions, work, dress up, or get out of their car. The speed and convenience fit Americans’ pressured lifestyles. It does not fit, however, to our health and wellness. A fast food meal, such as a Burger King Double Whopper with cheese, contains 965 calories, more than double the amount of fat, and as much as 750 grams too much sodium
One of the most unhealthy diets in the world is that of an American. It is made up of processed foods and a good amount of television. America easily has the most fast food restaurants in the entire world. Leave it to McDonald’s, Wendy’s, Burger King or any other fast-food restaurant to serve extremely cheap and even unhealthier food at any time during the day or night. ”It tastes good so why not?” That seems to be the question many people are asking now-a-days. Because it is so easily accessible and processed, it is made to be very tasty and extremely unhealthy. Many Americans find his or herself indulging on the these fatty foods of America on a day-to-day basis. While it may taste good at the time, it has a terrible effect on your body
Fast food might be easy and cheap but people do not realize how harmful the food is for their bodies. The problem is the food that is served at these types of restaurants, especially McDonalds, are high in fat, salt, processed, and can have harmful ingredients included in the food. While home cooked food takes time to plan and make people know what they are eating, that isn’t the case at McDonalds: “McDonald’s burgers retain its fresh appearance for a very long time. This can easily fool customers who do not have a hint of this alteration in their burgers. The use of excessive preservatives is harmful for your health which McDonalds seems to overlook for gaining more and more
The inherent problem with fast food restaurants is food quality, enhancing taste by adding increased calories, fasts, sodium and sugar. Wendy’s menu is no exception. “Wendy’s Dave’s Hot N Juicy ¾ Ib Triple Cheeseburger, the calories in it are 1,090, 66 grams of fat and sodium is 1,990” (America’s Best and Worst Food). “Soft drinks can lead to obesity, research found out that for every can or glass of sugar- sweetened beverage a child drank during that time, the child’s body mass index inched up and the chances of becoming obese increased to 60%” (Eric Schlosser pg. 56).
As the Author of Obesity in America (Down to Earth) has noted," Our children are being bombarded from every angle with these toxic foods making it virtually impossible for them to eat anything else". Children are being seduced to this food choice, which potentially affects their eating habits in the long term; Not different from adults who are attracted to whatever is fast and recognized to taste good, then it will become a habit to eat it on a daily basis. Unfortunately, people are not having a real set of options, that is being advertised besides that big double meat burger. Food Industries use their obviously increasing consumer rates and Super-Size the product, which adulterates the person eating habits. By making it appear normal to eat an entire buffet, or just simply eating more than they are supposed to. Murray writes " McDonald's has made super-size is a verb", so what does actually makes attractive from the phrase "Super-Size it", if is really up to the consumer choice, why to keep advertising the same unhealthy product over and over, but in actual date in a bigger portion, the consumer keeps choosing the most displayed option, because that is what is being advertised, that is all the consumer knows. The unhealthy environment provided is to keep
•In the recent times McDonalds has been blamed for the high fat content in its products and many consumers perceive that the food served at their outlets is not healthy. Also, the consumers are becoming increasingly health conscious these days. McDonalds
specialized fryers designed to cook the inside of these bigger potatoes without burning the outside.
(1) Wendy’s was able to achieve its initial success and grow so rapidly at a time when the quick service hamburger business appeared to be saturated because Wendy’s chose a strategic plan of targeting a different segment of the hamburger market, young adults and adults. Dave Thomas’s idea of an “old fashioned” hamburger allowed Wendy’s to differentiate from the competitors. The hamburger itself is made from fresh beef that is cooked to order and served directly from the grill to the customer. It is done this way to allow the customer to see what they are ordering. Allowing customers the opportunity to see the cooking process gains a certain level of comfort between the customer and the restaurant. “Old fashioned” hamburgers are square in
All aspects of fast food have been criticized significantly, especially since the health food trend craze came around. An argument by culinary Luddites that is often thrown around is that our ancestors never had the access to these options and lived a much happier natural lifestyle. Rachel Laudan brought these points to the forefront to be critiqued in her writing “In Praise of Fast Food”. Rachel Laudan brings the argument that individuals have always participated in the consumption of convenience based foods, the goal in growing and producing food has always been to alter produce to make it more convenient as well as better tasting. Fast food is not as new of an invention as many believe it to be. Modern mainstream media outlets have pushed the belief that processing food has been the worst thing for the well being of the human body. Rachel Laudan makes some very solid points in the fast food debate that should be noted.
Common sense might dictate that eating foods in small portions or controlling the calorie intake of each food will help stabilize weight gain, but most food found in these establishments push past the limit of daily calorie intake per day in just a single meal. “According to Consumer Reports and the Nutrition Action Health Letter, Burger King 's Triple Whopper contains 1,160 calories, 75 grams of fat, and 1050 mgs of sodium; McDonald 's Crispy Chicken Bacon Clubhouse Sandwich has 750 calories, 38 grams of fat, and 1,720 mg of sodium; Hardee 's 2/3 Pound Monster Thickburger hefts 1,330 calories, 66 grams of fat, and an astounding 1,990 mg of sodium; Taco Bell 's Cantina Burrito-Steak carries 750 calories, 28 grams of fat, and 1,940 mg of sodium.” (Ansello) From the data above, one could suggest that regularly eating these in the standard three course fashion would surpass the daily average calorie limit (2000 calories for both men and women.) The average person eats not only the sandwich alone, but consumed along with a side dish and a carbonated beverage. These meals also play a part in the lives of our children, and are the main reasons for underage obesity. To contrast the high saturated fat diets with a leafier or organic substitute, the average American has to drive further to obtain, and also pay a higher dollar cost for the diet. For example, the cost of a “Crispy Chicken Sandwich” at Wendy’s establishment is approximately one dollar, while the
McDonald’s hamburgers are frozen patties to ensure consistency of size and appearance (McDonald’s, 2012). McDonald’s cooks the patties in batches and place them in temperature controlled warmer bins. Each bin holds one batch and a timer is placed per bin to regulate times according to OSHA standards. During peak times, a set quantity of burgers are prepared and prepackaged ahead of time and placed on a temperature regulated delivery rack.