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
If you were to go to a restaurant, you would want to know what the nutritional values of the food were, would you not? The labels you see on bags of potato chips or a drink are called nutritional labels (also known as food labels), which show you how much calories, proteins, fats, or a lot more that the item has. In fact, the government made it illegal to make products to sell at stores without the nutritional label. Did you know that restaurants are not required by law to have a label on any of their products? The government needs to make a law to make restaurants put the nutritional values on their foods.
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
However, it is important to remember that this essay was written in 2002; today, many fast-food restaurants have a variety of salads, and they serve fruit, juices, and milk on their children’s meals now. However, I do agree with what Zinczenko is calling for: fast-food restaurants need to display the nutritional values of their food. Like the warnings on tobacco and alcoholic items, fast-food nutritional information can be there to warn consumers about what they are about put into their
On December 1, 2014 the U.S Food and Drug Administration (FDA) established two new rules requiring menu labeling and vending machine labeling. What does this mean exactly, well when it comes to menu labeling any establishment that has 20 or more chains are now required to list the calorie information on their menus or menu boards. This not only includes sit-down restaurants but also drive-through windows and takeout foods. They also established another rule for vending machines which requires all owners or operators with 20 or more vending machines to display calorie information as well. According to the FDA “Americans eat and drink about one-third of their calories away from home. Making calorie information available will help consumers make informed choices for themselves and their families”.
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.
He argues that fast-food packaging gives us less information on what we are consuming. For instance, advertisements don 't carry warning labels, foods that are prepared are not covered under the food and Drug Administration labeling laws. Some restaurants will provide calorie information on request but not all. In addition, David concludes that because fast food restaurants are everywhere and the lack of warning label and information on the foods, it leads consumers to buy more unhealthy food and live in an unhealthy lifestyle.
America’s health has taken a disastrous toll in the recent decades, with the rapidly increased popularity of processed convenience foods laden in fat and sugar, along with the correlating rise of obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases. As of 2010, nearly 70% of adults in America aged 20 or higher are overweight or obese (Ogden et all). Both obesity and diabetes are preventable diseases that result directly from overindulgence and poor nutrition. Contemporary marketing practices, which entail displaying misleading buzzwords on front-of-package food labels, negatively affect consumers’ abilities to make healthy choices. To help reverse this epidemic, it is essential that Americans begin reading labels and educating themselves about the foods they consume.
Due to the rising levels of obesity and poor nutrition, nutritional labelling was implemented to help consumers make healthier choices when purchasing food. The term ‘policy’ is used when a government or organisation implement a plan of action or decision that accomplishes a certain goal (Richards and Smith, 2002). Policy enables the government and particular organisations to agree that something should be carried out in a certain way. Policies are formulated to raise awareness and in this case food policy aims to help inform consumers about healthy eating and how to lead a healthy lifestyle. Food policy is an evolving subject which is constantly changing and developing to meet the needs of society. Nutrition labelling was created to be consistent across all food products so as to avoid confusion to the consumer (Van den Wijngaart, 2002).
For decades the fast-food industry has supplied Americans with tasty, comforting food, quickly and for a low cost. It was not until recently, when the health craze first hit America in the late 1980’s that corporations developed a new approach to marketing health food products to fit their customer’s wants. Fast Food companies trick their costumers into believing the fast-food is healthier by fancy advertisement, using descriptive words such as fresh, and not providing enough nutritional information.
The main goal of study #4 was to evaluate the impact food labeling has on the amount of food people eat and their calories. To assess this, 303 participants were randomly assigned to either a restaurant that had menu with no calorie information, a restaurant with calorie labels, or a restaurant with a menu with calorie information as well as the recommended amount of daily calories for an adult. The study found that people who ordered off of the menus with calorie information ended up ordering less than their counterparts as well as ate less food throughout the day. Overall, the people who were given the menus with calorie labels ordered 124 less calories and the people given the calorie labels plus the information ordered 203 calories less than those who had regular menus. Afterwards, the people who were given the standard menu consumed 1630 calories, the ones with the calorie labels had 1625 calories, and the ones given calorie
nowadays, people do not know what they are eating. The majority of most Americans would not be able to pronounce the names of the ingredients listed on the package of the last snack food they consumed. Consumers “ignore certain critical questions about the quality and the cost of what they are sold: How fresh is it? How clean or pure is it, how free of dangerous chemicals? … When the food has been manufactured or “processed” or “precooked,” how has that affected its quality or price or nutritional value?” (Berry, 24) It is of utmost importance that we understand what the food that lines the grocery store shelves is actually
In the January issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association, an article was published regarding the impact of nutritional labels on food choices at different Dutch work cafeterias. The purpose of this study was to investigate the differences made to food choices, and if it stimulated consumers to make healthier choices or if customers actually pay attention to the nutritional information in the product.
Most of us have eaten at a fast food restaurant at least once in our life whether it is Five Guys or Burger King. From the warm fries to a juicy burger, we just can’t seem to get enough of it right. But should there be a warning label on the bag or wrappers stating the negative effects of eating one of their foods? There are numerous unspoken dangers that derive from fast food. Because of this, Americans aren’t aware of the health risks they are taking when eating it. The lack of personal responsibility in fast food consumers is an overall contributing factor leading to childhood obesity but being informed on things like to the amount of calories in a Whopper Jr. or the amount of fat intake from garlic and cheese fries can lead to a major difference in not only us as but the youth’s important eating habits. The government and fast food chains are ultimately responsible for not educating its citizens enough.
The demand for labels on food products became a growing interest in the 1960s when consumers became apprehensive about processed foods and were curious about the entirety of the products they were consuming. Prior to this time period meals were typically grown, prepared, and consumed within the household; therefore, there was little to no necessary need for foods to contain any type of labeling. However, after processed foods gained popularity, an increase in the consumption of such products resulted in an increase in the demand for nutrient content information as well. In 1967 the government responded to this demand by enabling the Fair Packaging and Labeling Act, which required producers to label products with an identity statement, the name and location of the manufacture, as well as the net amount of contents.1 Overall, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) holds responsibility for providing consumers with the proper and correct information regarding a product’s ingredients and context of its nutrients as well for most food items.2 Today, the FDA gives approval for three different types of label claims that can be placed on products. Health claims, structure/function, and nutrient content claims are all FDA approved claims that can be displayed on food labels. The use and relationship that health, structure/function, and nutrient content, claims have in influencing consumer product choice are done so by highlighting the positive attributes a product contains.