'Value meals' supersize customers -- RealityFans

[ Show ]

Support VoyForums

[ Shrink ]

VoyForums Announcement: Programming and providing support for this service has been a labor of love since 1997. We are one of the few services online who values our users' privacy, and have never sold your information. We have even fought hard to defend your privacy in legal cases; however, we've done it with almost no financial support -- paying out of pocket to continue providing the service. Due to the issues imposed on us by advertisers, we also stopped hosting most ads on the forums many years ago. We hope you appreciate our efforts.

Show your support by donating any amount. (Note: We are still technically a for-profit company, so your contribution is not tax-deductible.) PayPal Acct: Feedback:

Donate to VoyForums (PayPal):

[ Login ] [ Contact Forum Admin ] [ Main index ] [ Post a new message ] [ Search | Check update time | Archives: 1, [2], 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 ]

[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]

Date Posted: 14:26:22 06/19/02 Wed
Author: gmike
Subject: 'Value meals' supersize customers

'Value meals' supersize customers
Obesity blamed on fast-food practice
Stephen Krupin - Staff
Wednesday, June 19, 2002

Washington --- Fast-food consumers who spend a few extra cents upgrading their value meal also might be supersizing their health risks, a coalition of nutrition organizations said Tuesday.

The study by the National Alliance for Nutrition and Activity found that Americans are substantially increasing their calorie and fat intake as chains make it more economical and enticing to order larger serving sizes. The group said the resulting rising rates of obesity, responsible for 300,000 deaths annually, can lead to diseases such as cancer and diabetes.

''Americans are quite literally eating ourselves into an early grave,'' said Carol Tucker Foreman, director of the Food Policy Institute at the Consumer Federation of America. ''We are plagued with portion distortion, and it is ubiquitous in the American food supply.''

The coalition said that obesity rates have increased by 60 percent over the last decade and doubled in children during the last 20 years. Diabetes diagnoses, which Foreman said are mostly traceable to poor diet and physical inactivity, have increased 50 percent over the last decade.

The coalition placed some of the blame on efforts to sell larger and unhealthier portions. Because value meals include larger servings of french fries and soft drinks, the report found that it costs more at McDonald's to buy separately a quarter pounder with cheese, small fries and a small Coke --- totaling 890 calories --- than a quarter pounder with cheese extra value meal, which comes with large fries and a drink and packs 1,380 calories.

''As a result of their marketing practices, it costs more to get less,'' said Melanie Polk, director of nutrition education at the American Institute for Cancer Research. ''If I want to control my calorie intake, I pay a penalty for requesting a burger with a small order of fries and a small soft drink. That's wrong, that's backward, [and] that's bad for our health.''

The difference between a small and medium bag of unbuttered movie theater popcorn is only 71 cents --- but 500 calories. The 23 percent price increase corresponds to a 125 percent hike in calories, accounting for two days' worth of saturated fat.

''Supersizing costs you money to buy calories you don't need,'' said Margo Wootan, director of nutrition policy at the Center for Science in the Public Interest. ''To make informed choices, consumers need to know the cost to their wallet and their waistline.''

The study emphasized that more than vanity is at issue when you answer the question, ''Do you want fries with that?''

''We're not just talking about how we're going to look in our bathing suits this summer," Wootan said. "We're talking about preventing early death and reducing health care costs.''

> ON THE WEB: Center for Science in the Public Interest: www.cspinet.org

American Institute for Cancer Research: www.aicr.org

http://www.accessatlanta.com/ajc/epaper/editions/today/news_d301c15cb29b20730080.html

It as if Mcdonald's and even my local Supermarket puts a gun to my head and forces me to buy and eat this high calorie food.

[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]

Replies:

Very interesting! (NT) -- Cari, 14:29:18 06/19/02 Wed