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Professionalizationof Exercise Physiologyonline

An international electronic
journal for exercise physiologists
ISSN 1099-5862

Vol 10 No 5 May 2007

Fast Food: One Small Bite for Man, One Giant Problem for Mankind

Jonathan N. Mike, MS, CSCS, NSCA-CPT

Doctorate Student, Exercise Physiology

University of New Mexico

Albuquerque, NM

Health is the thing that makes you feel that now is the best time of the year.

-- Franklin Pierce Adams

National and Global Problem

Over the last 30 yearsthe fast food industry has become part of just about every facet of American society. Imagine, an industry that originated with hot dog and hamburger stands in southern California has now stretched far and wide across the globe. Fast food is ubiquitous in nature, and essentially unavoidable. Not only served at restaurants and drive-through chains, but sporting events, airports, elementary and high schools, and colleges and universities, cruise ships, trains, planes, K-marts, Wal-Marts, gas stations and, most recently, hospitals.

Consumers spent in the United Statesabout $110 billion on fast food in 2000, which is an increase from $6 billion in 1970. The National Restaurant Association [1] is expected to reach record sales of $537 billion in 2007 — a solid 5.0 percent increase over 2006 sales. The nation's 935,000 restaurant-and-foodservice outlets will employ 12.8 million individuals, and add 2 million new career and employment opportunities in the next decade. As Americans spend 47.9 percent of their food budget in restaurants, the industry is heading into 2007 as an economic powerhouse and an essential part of Americans' lifestyle.[1]

Most unfortunately, Americans now spend more money on fast food than on higher education, personal computers, computer software, and new cars. Shockingly, Americans spend more on fast food than on movies, books, newspapers, magazines, videos, and music combined.Sadly, 96% of American schoolchildren can identify Ronald McDonald, more than recognize the crucifix.

An emerging pattern of childhood indoctrination, poor nutrition, inadequate exercise, and skyrocketing obesity rates are sweeping this nation like a plague. Purchasing fast food has become a regular habitual practice that is now taken for granted, much like many tasks of daily living, which raises several important questions:

  1. Do you ever stop and think how or why this phenomenon exits?
  2. Do you ever wonder how this “great food” is made?
  3. What is in the mix of that strawberry milkshake you love?

Answers to these questions might help individuals in society reflect on their consumption of fast food. Until members of society, singly and collectively, get involved, perhaps, it is time for the fast food industry and other full service chains and franchises to step up to the plate and help combat the healthcare issues that Americans face. If not, it may be just a matter of time before legal restraints are placed on the industry. In fact, recently, several states have tried to ban the use of “trans fats” in many segments of the foods industry[2-5]. Not only within fast food, but with local or private established as well.

Considering the global health problem millions of people face in the United States, many still choose to indulge themselves with “super-size” fries and drinks. They place themselves at the mercy of considerable health and social costs. No wonder educators and researchers are asking themselves: “Why blame the fast food companies for the reckless lifestyle when people choose what to eat?” The fast food chains do not force people to eat their food. Why, then, do people chose a life with the potential for increased sickness and self-destructive addiction over one of health and common sense? The answer probably is multifaceted and very complex, but one reason seems obvious. The effect of mass-media indoctrination is an obvious factor. So, who is to blame? Well, of course McDonald’s headquarters will deny any and all responsibility. They are in the business of making the “Mc” Billions.

Fact – A burger and fries became the quintessential American Meal in the 1950s, thanks to promotional efforts. Now, the typical American consumes approximately three hamburgers and four orders of fries every week [6].

The Mixing Bag

There are many reasons people purchase fast food. Aside from being inexpensive and convenient, it has carefully been designed to taste good. All of the value meal’s, and free refills of soda give a distorted view of how much fast food actually costs. However, the real price never appears on the menu. The American flavor industry now has annual revenues of about $1.4 billion. Approximately 10,000 new processed-food products are introduced every year in the United States. Almost all of them require flavor additives, and about nine out of ten of these products fail.

An individuals’ food preference, like elements of personality, are formed during the first few years of life, through a process of socialization. Although the human sense of smell is still not fully understood, it is greatly affected by psychological factors and expectations. Although aroma and memory are well beyond the scope of this article, they are embedded throughout life. And, many times return, without knowing why. It is human nature to do the things that work, and to continue to eat what taste good. These "comfort foods" become a source of pleasure and reassurance – a fact that fast-food chains use to their advantage.

The federal Food and Drug Administration [7]does not require companies to disclose the ingredients of their color or flavor additives so long as all the chemicals in them are considered by the agency to be GRAS ("generally recognized as safe"). This enables companies to maintain the secrecy of their formulas. It also hides the fact that flavor compounds often contain more ingredients than the foods to which they give taste. The phrase "artificial strawberry flavor" gives vague meaning to the manufacturing skill used to create these foods.

A typical artificial strawberry milk shake found at many fast food chains is a cocktail of more than 50 chemicals, and contains the following ingredients:

amyl acetate, amyl butyrate, amyl valerate, anethol, anisyl formate, benzyl acetate, benzyl isobutyrate, butyric acid, cinnamyl isobutyrate, cinnamyl valerate, cognac essential oil, diacetyl, dipropyl ketone, ethyl acetate, ethyl amyl ketone, ethyl butyrate, ethyl cinnamate, ethyl heptanoate, ethyl heptylate, ethyl lactate, ethyl methylphenylglycidate, ethyl nitrate, ethyl propionate, ethyl valerate, heliotropin, hydroxyphenyl-2-butanone (10 percent solution in alcohol), a-ionone, isobutyl anthranilate, isobutyl butyrate, lemon essential oil, maltol, 4-methylacetophenone, methyl anthranilate, methyl benzoate, methyl cinnamate, methyl heptine carbonate, methyl naphthyl ketone, methyl salicylate, mint essential oil, neroli essential oil, nerolin, neryl isobutyrate, orris butter, phenethyl alcohol, rose, rum ether, g-undecalactone, vanillin, and solvent.

Although flavors usually arise from a mixture of many different volatile chemicals, often a single compound supplies the dominant aroma. Smelled alone, that chemical provides an unmistakable sense of the food (see table).For example, Ethyl-2-methyl butyrate, smells just like an apple. Many of today's highly processed foods offer a blank palette. Meaning, whatever chemicals are added to them will give them specific tastes. Adding methyl-2-pyridyl ketone makes something taste like popcorn. Adding ethyl-3-hydroxy butanoate makes it taste like marshmallow. The possibilities are now almost limitless. Without affecting appearance or nutritional value, processed foods could be made with aroma chemicals such as hexanal (the smell of freshly cut grass) or 3-methyl butanoic acid (the smell of body odor).

For the past twenty years food processors have tried hard to use only "natural flavors" in their products. According to the FDA[7], these must be derived entirely from natural sources -- from herbs, spices, fruits, vegetables, beef, chicken, yeast, bark, roots, and so forth. Consumers prefer to see natural flavors on a label, out of a belief that they are more healthful. Distinctions between artificial and natural flavors can be arbitrary and somewhat absurd, based more on how the flavor has been made than on what it actually contains.
Flavor, in and of itself, is defined as a substance that gives another substance flavor, altering the characteristics of the solute, causing it to become sweet, sour, tangy, etc [8]. "A natural flavor," is a flavor that's been derived with an out-of-date technology. Natural and artificial flavors sometimes contain exactly the same chemicals, produced through different methods. Amyl acetate, for example, provides the dominant note of banana flavor. When it is distilled from bananas with a solvent, amyl acetate is a natural flavor. When it is produced by mixing vinegar with amyl alcohol and adding sulfuric acid as a catalyst, amyl acetate is an artificial flavor. Either way it smells and tastes the same. "Natural flavor" is now listed among the ingredients of everything from Health Valley Blueberry Granola Bars to Taco Bell Hot Taco Sauce.

Interestingly, a natural flavor is not necessarily more healthful or purer than an artificial one. Nevertheless, it is legally considered an artificial flavor and sells at a much lower price. Natural and artificial flavors are now manufactured at the same chemical plants, places that few people would associate with Mother Nature.

Table: Chemicals with Associated tastes [8]

Chemical / Odor
Diacetyl / Buttery
Isoamyl acetate / Banana
Cinnamic aldehyde / Cinnamon
Ethyl propionate / Fruity
Limonene / Orange
Ethyl-(E, Z)-2,4-decadienoate / Pear
Allyl hexanoate / Pineapple
Ethyl maltol / Sugar, Cotton candy
Methyl salicylate / Wintergreen
Benzaldehyde / Bitter almond

One of the most widely used color additives is Cochineal extract (also known as carmine or carminic acid). This additive is often hidden by the phrase "color added", which violates a number of religious dietary restrictions, may cause allergic reactions in susceptible people, and comes from an unusual source is made from the desiccated bodies of female Dactylopius coccus Costa, a small insect harvested mainly in Peru and the Canary Islands. The bug feeds on red cactus berries, and color from the berries accumulates in the females and their un-hatched larvae. The insects are collected, dried, and ground into a pigment. It takes about 70,000 of them to produce a pound of carmine, which is used to make processed foods look pink, red, or purple. Dannon strawberry yogurt gets its color from carmine, and so do many frozen fruit bars, candies, and fruit fillings, and Ocean Spray pink-grapefruit juice drink.

Today, it is mainly used as a fabric and cosmetics dye and as a natural food coloring, as well as for oil paints, pigments and watercolors. When used as a food additive, the dye must be labeled on packaging labels[9].Sometimes carmine is labeled as E120. An unknown percentage of people have been found to have allergies to carmine, ranging from mild cases of hives to anaphylactic shock. Carmine has been found to cause asthma in some people. Cochineal is one of the colors that the Hyperactive Children's Support Group recommends be eliminated from the diet of hyperactive children. Natural carmine dye used in food and cosmetics can render it unacceptable to strict vegetarian consumers, and both Muslims and Jews consider carmine-containing food forbidden (haraam and non-kosher) because the dye is extracted from insects.

Cochineal is one of the few water-soluble colorants that resist degradation with time. It is one of the most light- and heat-stable and oxidation-resistant of all the natural colorants and is even more stable than many synthetic food colors [10]. The water-soluble form is used in alcoholic drinks with calcium carmine; the insoluble form is used in a wider variety of products. Together with ammonium carmine they can be found in meat, sausages, processed poultry products (meat products cannot be colored in the United States unless they are labeled as such), surimi, marinades, alcoholic drinks, bakery products and toppings, cookies, desserts, icings, pie fillings, jams, preserves, gelatin desserts, juice beverages, varieties of cheddar cheese and other dairy products, sauces and sweets. Cochineal gives Campari and other Italian apéritifs their color, too [9]. Cochineal is also used to color McDonalds Strawberry Shakes. The average human consumes one to two drops of carminic acid each year with food[10].

Carmine is one of the very few pigments considered safe enough for use in eye cosmetics [11]. A significant proportion of the insoluble carmine pigment produced is used in the cosmetics industry for hair- and skin-care products, lipsticks, face powders, rouges, and blushes [10].

A bright red dye and the stain carmine used in microbiology are often made from the carmine extract, as well [11]. Interestingly, the pharmaceutical industry uses cochineal to color pills and ointments [12].So, what are you hungry for?

Trans-Fat 101

If you are in any way health conscience, having basic familiarity about trans fat might enhance your ability to engage in effective decisions when reading food labels. Therefore, it is imperative to underline key issues. Trans fats occur in small quantities, usually in meat and dairy products from ruminants. Today, most trans fats are industrially created as a by-product of partially hydrogenation of plant oils, which was developed in the early 1900’s and first introduced as Crisco Oil in 1911. Partial hydrogenation alters the molecular structure of the fat, increasing the melting point and decreasing rancidity (unpleasant taste of smell), thereby reducing shelf life and decreasing refrigeration requirements. However, during this process, a portion of the changed fat becomes a trans fat. Trans fat are neither required nor valuable for health, and consuming them increases the risk for heart disease [13-14]. Therefore, it is recommended that intake be reduced to limited amount [15].

Food containing artificial trans fats formed by partial hydrogenating plant fats may contain up to 45% trans fat compared to total fat. Baking shortening typically contain 30% trans fats compared to total fat, while animal fats such butter and lard contain 3% [16].Fast Food chains routinely use different fats in various locations, and trans fat levels in products vary substantially. As an example, an analysis of samples from McDonald’s french fries collected in 2004 and 2005 found that fries served in New York City contained twice the amount of trans fat as in Hungry, and 28 times more trans fat as in Denmark (where they are restricted). Interestingly, at KFC, the sample was reversed with Hungry’s product containing twice the trans fat of the NYC product. In the U.S., there is variation as well, with fries in NYC containing 30% more trans fat than from Atlanta (figure 1) [17].

Jumping on the BAN-Wagon!

Prior to 2006, U.S. consumers could not directly determine the quantity of trans fats in various food products. This information could only be inferred from the ingredient list, notably from the partially hydrogenated ingredients. However, this represents classic deception because most people do not know how to interpret a food label beyond what is actually printed. Unless you are an exercise physiologist or a registered dietician, or involved with clinical work, how many people can decipher the food label?

On July 11, 2003, the FDA issued a regulation [18], obligating manufacturers to list trans fat on the Nutrition facts panel of food and some dietary supplements [19]. This new ruling mandated compliance by January 2006, although companies may petition by January 1, 2008. The regulation allows trans fat levels of less than 0.5 grams per serving to be labeled as 0 grams per serving. Unfortunately, “trans fat free” and “low trans fat” were not approved. Again, deceiving the consumer is played out because someone eating many servings of a product or eating multiple products over the course of the day can consume a significant amount of TFs. The FDA [7]estimates by 2009, trans fat labeling will have prevented from 600 to1200 cases of coronary heart disease and 250-500 deaths each year. However, this is diminutive compared to the overall problem. But, it at least officials are taking to right steps.

New York is the first large US city to strictly limit trans fat in restaurants. Restaurants will be barred from using most frying and spreading fats containing level of TFs above 0.5g per serving by this July 2007, and will have to meet the same target in all other foods by July 2008 [20].

Although by choice, not obligation, major food chains have begun to remove or reduce the levels of TFs in their products. BanTransFats.com [21] filed a lawsuit in May 2003 against Kraft Foods to impose removal of TFs from the Oreo cookie. Despite the lawsuit being withdrawn, Kraft agreed to search for a substitute for the TF in the Oreo. Unfortunately, space does not allocate full coverage on all food chain trans fat controversies and reports. However, I can say that chains such as Wendy’s, McDonald’s and J.M. Smucker Company are in the process of converting the use of TFs with healthier alternative oils such as linolenic soybean oil. Notwithstanding, most fast food chains will eventually be removing all TFs products, via government regulation, lawsuit or by choice. However, consumers will most likely see significant nationwide changes during 2008 and beyond. So between now and then, please, hold the pickles!