In Read all about it: Calorie counts are everywhere, but do we care? the author, Los Angeles Times and Newsela Staff includes the main idea that being required to include calorie counts on menus in restaurants or other eateries, does not influence customers choices on what they order, as much as the food being served to the consumers. In Calorie counts are everywhere, but do we care?, by Los Angeles Times adapted by Newsela Staff, researchers found in 2012 to 2014 restaurants reduced calorie counts in the food they serve after posting the calorie counts on their own menus because of new laws added. The author states, “The study suggests the help comes from restaurants’ changing what they serve, instead of diners "changing their behavior.” (Los
In the article “Paranoia about Fats is Driven by Junk Science” by Jill Richardson discusses the idea of how many Americans’ have false beliefs on the consumption of fats. Many think fats are bad and unhealthy for our diets, when in reality; we need them to maintain a healthy diet. For me and just like many others, I had the wrong impression on fats. Since many products today contain the label fat-free, I always believed that this was bad for diets. Since reading this article, it helped me take into account that eating omega-3 and omega-6; such as fish, greens, seeds, and oils are part of a well-balanced diet. This can be related to chapter 3, as omega-3 fatty acids are essential in preventing
Zinczenko explains, “Where are consumers supposed to find alternatives? Drive down any thoroughfare in America, and I guarantee you’ll see one of our country’s more than 13,000 McDonald’s restaurants.” He continues, “Now, drive back up the block and try to find someplace to buy a grapefruit.” (Zinczenko 463). What’s the chances of finding a fruit stand rather than a fast food restaurant? In addition, consumers are not being informed on what exactly they are taking in. There are no calorie charts posted on the food, nor are there warning labels connected to it. Thus, the purchaser is becoming unhealthy and eventually obese. Zinczenko stated fast food restaurants, “Would do well to protect themselves, and their consumers, by providing the nutrition information people need to make informed choices about their products.” Furthermore, without warnings, there will consequently be a higher number of ill and obese
Knowledge is power, the more the consumer knows about the food they are eating the healthier choices they’ll make. For instance, in McDonald’s Grilled Honey Mustard Snack Wrap and a small French fry, from McDonald’s is around $6.00 and contains 420 calories 24g of fat (6.0g saturated).If you were to compare that to a Big Mac meals that comes with medium size fries and coke soda would be about 980 calories the Snack Wrap would be a healthier alternative and it would be about the same price $6.00. When fast food chains put labels on their food like McDonald’s consumers can’t
In David Zinczenko’s article “Don’t Blame the Eater,” Zinczenko explains that during his childhood, which was in the mid 1980’s, his parents split up and he lived with his mom. Her income was barely enough to pay the bills, so they lived paycheck to paycheck. Under this circumstance, fast food was the only foods that they could afford to buy in large quantities because it is generally cheaper than most other restaurants. Due to eating fast food for both lunch and dinner on a daily basis for his entire childhood, when he was 15 years old, Zinczenko weighed 212 pounds. He explains how Type 2 diabetes and the money spent to treat it has dramatically increased over the years, but takes most of the blame of the consumers by saying some fast food restaurants inaccurately or does not provide caloric labels and information. Zinczenko brought up the interesting points of financial hardships, fast food restaurants not providing nutritional information, and the fact that fast food restaurants can be found pretty much anywhere.
For consumers who take their health into consideration when eating, calorie postings on menus will greatly impact their decision when making a food selection. (Diets in Review) The Food and Drug Administration has finalized menu labeling rules that will require calorie information to be listed on menus and menu boards in chain restaurants. The rules can also apply to vending machines and similar retail food establishments. Alarmingly, Americans eat and drink almost one –third of their calories away from their residence. If calorie information is given directly to consumers at restaurants, a huge change could be made in the lives of many Americans, by simply choosing to eat healthier. The menu labeling rule will apply to chain restaurants that
As consumers, we like to believe that the information we are told is truthful and unbiased however, this is not always the case in relation to the fast food industry. In his essay “Don’t Blame the Eater,” David Zinczenko builds a convincing argument by using logical reasoning that fast food companies should be more truthful with their caloric content. Zinczenko also uses this logical reasoning to show how ease of access and family structure can affect fast food consumption. However, Zinczenko’s use of hasty generalizations and cause and effect fallacies render his argument unconvincing overall.
For example, he states, “there are no calorie information charts on fast-food packaging, the way there are on grocery items,” and there are many companies that do not include detailed nutrition information (Zinczenko 196). This claim is certainly legitimate; however, restaurants have begun to provide calorie information on their products. The Food and Drug Administration now requires “chain restaurants with 20 or more locations to begin posting calorie information on their menus” (Aubrey 1). Even though the products may not be healthier, providing correct nutrition information is certainly helpful for consumers to make more informed
In the article “Don’t Blame the Eater,” David Zinczenko blames the fast food companies for causing the obesity epidemic. He told his own story as a kid growing up at the time when fast food was the most popular choice and how it made him a “portly fast-food patron” (241). He then accuses such companies of failing to put a warning label on high calorie. In addition, Zinczenko encourages the new spate of lawsuits against the food industry to give children and their busy parents an opportunity to have a better and healthier food choice. Though I concede Zinzenko’s opinion in addressing the responsibility of the food industry, I still insist that the industry is not the only one who is responsible for this “time bomb” (242). I believe the responsibility belongs to parents, who play an important role in their children’s food orientation, schools, for
Best selling author of Eat This, Not That, David Zinczenko’s article “Don’t Blame the Eater,” blames the fast food industry for the growing rate of obesity in the United States. Zinczenko’s main idea is that fast food companies should have warning labels on all the food they supply. Zinczenko believes that since health labels are put on tobacco and preserved food product, fast food industries should put labels on today’s fast food. Discussions about the availability of fast food compared to healthier alternative were brought up as well. Zinczenko states that when looked at, a salad from a fast food restaurant could add up to half of someone’s daily calories (155). He believes that because of fast food, Americans are having more health risks, which includes an insane rise in diabetes. Some agree with Zinczenko saying fast food companies should be the ones responsible to show people the truth about their foods. On the other hand Radley Balko, a columnist for FoxNews.com, states that fast-food consumption ...
Have you changed your mind about the effect of restaurant labeling on your decision about what to order after seeing the actual calorie content?
Do you believe that a law should be made to make a restaurant place food nutritional information on all menus? In my stance of opinion a restaurant should not be made to post nutritional information. Food should be enjoyed the way it is, and not everyone would read the post, therefore, it would take up that space for no reason. People should be allowed to run their restaurants the way they want them, and no different. If you ordered a healthy meal the price would be higher than a regular meal.
All of my recommended numbers were not met. This could be the result of many things. For the total calories that I consumed was a couple hundred less than what was recommended. This is more than likely because I told the site that I get an hour of exercise every day, but between going to class, doing homework, and working it makes it hard to do that every day. On the days I didn’t workout I didn’t eat as much for the
...s unaware of the nutrition facts. You would think that the food industry would want its consumers to be informed about the calories and fat content of foods being sold and support the idea of living a healthy lifestyle, however that did not seem to be the case up until very recently. My whole life I have heard that, living a healthy lifestyle is one of the main components of success, and I am happy to finally see some changes occurring within the food industry. Now that changes are being made, hopefully, people will start to take responsibility for their own condition and take actions to live healthier lifestyles.
This diet critique will be from everything I ate from Sunday, February 7 to Saturday, February 13. According to my dietary reference intake (DRI), I was allowed 2191 kcal for the week and I consumed 1978kcal. I met 90.3% of what I am allowed, although it Is on the higher end of the range it is still within. My calories from fat were 647kcal and my max allowed is 767kcal. Although I did not go over the minimum I was allowed was 438kcal so I still went over 209kcal from fat in which could be avoided. Checking the fat content on my snacks and limiting myself could reduce my actual intake while still being in range. The same applies to my total fat intake. My max was 85g and I consumed 72g when the lowest could have been 49g.this is still 23g of fat consumed that I did not not. Especially for trans fat I consumed 3.2g when ideally it should be 0g. Eliminated trans fat as a whole because there is no nutritional benefit would eliminate this entirely from my diet. My omega 6 and omega 3 intakes did not meet my DRI. I consumed only 3.9 g or omega 6 when my DRI is 12g and I consumed 0.5g of omega 3 when my DRI was 1.1g. To increase my omega 6 intake, I could start using grapeseed oil instead of the cheapest one I find which may not be the healthiest. I already use purchase grapeseed oil for my hair so getting another bottle to cook with would be easy. To increase my omega 3 intake, I could start consuming more beef and salmon in my diet, the majority of the meat I eat in my diet is chicken, so this switch could add variety.
As many people are trying to put the blame of obesity on restaurants, others, like myself, have a strong opinion that the restaurants have nothing to do with obesity and the customer has the right to order what they would like. Some supporters believe that government should take action to...