Yummy! We like fast food

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In the rat race, adults join the young to consume fast food, a hit in many countries. Doctors and dieticians fear that it could be a race to obesity and ill-health.

    Fast food is not bad. Eating it every once in a while is unlikely to cause health problems. It is risky and unhealthy only when you consume too much of it over a long period of time. That’s the time to worry about weight gain, obesity, insulin resistance and diabetes.

   Despite regular warnings about the ill-effects of fast food consumption, the industry continues to gain ground in many parts of the world, including Malaysia. Consumers, especially the young ones, are seemingly hooked on fast food, whether it is pizza, hamburger, sandwich or hot dog.

   Fast food is a huge global industry with sales estimated to reach US$311 billion. In the US alone, it is the big engine of growth for the franchised restaurant sector. Fast food sales in that country are reported to exceed US$163 billion.

   From the historical standpoint, fast food is not new. In ancient Greece and Rome, inns and taverns served quickly prepared meals for travellers and busy customers. Romans used to patronize street stands that sold bread and wine, and single households depended on vendors for quick, inexpensive meals.

   

   Even in the Middle Ages, residents of large towns and cities like London and Paris turned to street vendors who offered simple meals or takeaways such as pies, pastries and cooked meats. In 1762, the Fourth Earl of Sandwich, John Montagu, was known for wrapping dried meat in bread for his meal, and sandwiches were later popular.

    The first fast food outlet originated in the US in 1902 when Frank Hardart and Joseph Horn opened the first Horn and Hardart Automat in Philadelphia. The cafeteria’s business was so-so until they set up Automat outlets at Broadway and 13th Street in New York City, sparking an unexpected demand. Numerous Automat outlets sprang up elsewhere.

    White Castle came on the fast food scene in 1921. Founder Walter Anderson partnered a cook to set up the first outlet in Wichita, Kansas, selling hamburgers for five cents apiece until the 1940s. It promoted its takeout food with the slogan, “Less Work for Mother.” The venture was a runaway success, and more outlets followed in other states.

    Quick-service food

   A&W blazed a trail in 1919 when entrepreneur Roy Allen joined forces with a pharmacist to establish a hamburger and root beer stand in California. They promoted their frosty mug of root beer for only one nickel. Encouraged by the success, Allen opened the first “drive-in” in the US with “tray boys” serving the customers. The company was to first to introduce the franchise restaurant concept, which won wide acceptance.

    American consumers soon liked what they saw and tasted: hamburgers, chips, fried chicken, hot dogs, shakes and other beverages. Quick-service fast food caught on, and it became one of the country’s biggest industries. New competitors appeared and they expanded not only in the country but also overseas.

    The leader of the pack today is McDonald’s which operates over 31,000 restaurants in 126 countries on six continents. The chain, which prepares food like an assembly line, opens nearly 2,000 new ones yearly. Its Moscow outlet is said to be its busiest in the world and its Beijing restaurant is its largest.   

    Out to slice bigger portions of the US and global markets are Burger King, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Subway, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell. They compete with other contenders such as Papa John’s and Domino’s Pizza in a vast marketplace where the young crave for fast food.

    In the US, one out of four Americans chooses fast food on an given day. An average American eats three hamburgers and four servings of chips weekly. US consumers spend more on fast food than higher education, computers, books and new cars yearly – to the tune of nearly US$165 billion. Fast food breakfasts garner US$77 in the country.

    Consumers in the UK and the European Union also take to fast food in large numbers. The UK has the largest number of fast food restaurants per head, with Australia second and the US third. Dutch fast food can be simple – a portion of chips served with meat, mayonnaise, ketchup, peanut sauce or chopped onions.

    Not nutritional

   In New Zealand, McDonald’s meals were recently approved by Weight Watchers, which gave its stamp of approval for filet-o-fish, chicken McNuggets and chicken wrap. Cynics and critics thought it was a promotional gimmick.

   Fast food was not junk food until the term was coined by Michael Jacobson, the director of the Centre for Science in the Public Interest in 1972. He was concerned over the high levels of saturated fats, salt and sugar, and the low intakes of fruit, vegetables and dietary fibre. To him, fast food was neither healthy nor nutritional.

   Consumer groups are also alarmed by the calorie content, rat fats and portion sizes of fast food served. According to medical reports, fast food is linked to health problems in the US where 60 million adults are obese and 127 million are overweight.

    Fast food is readily available in Mlalaysia. Vendors operate from a cart, table, roadside stall, portable grill or vehicle, selling a variety of takeaway food. The menu includes local and cosmopolitan dishes such as kebab, Vietnamese noodle, Malay nasi lemak, Indian roti telur, fried vermicelli, sushi and Chinese fried rice.

   An increasing number of petrol stations have indoor convenience stores offering pre-packaged sandwiches, doughnuts and hot meals. Some of them also sell frozen foods and have microwave ovens on the premises.

   Consumers grab whatever that is appetizing, inexpensive not time-consuming. The meal usually comes with a plastic spoon or a pair of wooden chopsticks.  Vendors and restaurants always have a set menu to suit every pocket.      

    Fatty, salty or unhealthy? It's yummy to fast food consumers.