Will Fast Food Be The Death Of Us?
By ABC NEWS N E W Y O R K, Jan. 8
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On any given day, about a quarter of Americans scarf down burgers, fries, and sodas, the staples of the all-American fast food fix.
Residents of the United States spend more on fast food a year than they do movies, books, magazines, newspapers, videos, and records combined. Americans shelled out more than $110 billion on burgers, fried chicken, and the like in 2000, compared with $6 billion in 1970.
That obsession with fast food is harming adults and children alike, said Eric Schlosser, a journalist who wrote
Fast Food Nation, subtitled The Dark Side of the All-American Meal.
The best seller, just out in paperback, contends that fast food has changed the way Americans
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"Nobody is forcing people to eat this stuff, and fast food places will change when customers demand changes."
Even if 2 percent to 3 percent of customers complained, it would make a big drop in sales, Schlossberg said. The fast food companies aren't out to harm us. But what is good for them in the short run, is not good for us in the long run.
When Fast Food Nation first came out, McDonald's gave this
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Surgeon General David Satcher issued a "call to action" in mid-December, saying some 300,000 deaths a year are related to obesity, and calling for the removal of fast-food from schools.
"Fast food is really moving into schools, which is horrible, because eating habits are formed when you're young, so if you get fat then, you've started a lifelong battle," Schlosser said.
Fast food isn't the only cause of obesity, but Schlosser says it is one of the factors that is making the United States the fattest country in the world, with huge costs in health care and mortality that go along with it. The typical can of soda contains the equivalent of 10 teaspoons of sugar.
"Fast food places lure in the kids with toys and movie tie-ins," Schlosser said. "Parents have to be much more conscious of what their kids are eating. The first responsibility is for the parents, and then for the industry to alter their recipes. There's no reason they can't make a happy meal that's healthy."
He contends that unless the food is made healthy, fast-food chains should not be allowed to spend millions advertising fatty, unsafe food for children.
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