In 2008, New York City was the first in the country to mandate that fast food restaurants post calorie counts on their menus. While I thought it was a good idea, if for no other reason than people should have a right to full disclosure of what is going into their bodies, I was a bit unsure that people would change. I figured people want what they want, even if they see their favorite sandwich packs 800 calories.
Full nutritional disclosure on menus leads to better choices.
But, I happily stand corrected.
The New York Department of Health and Mental Hygiene has released findings of a recent analysis on the impact of the city’s new menu label requirements. The results show that people became more selective with foods, choosing items with fewer calories. People chose lower calorie meals at 9 of 13 fast food restaurant and coffee chains that were included in the study.
Last week, I posted an article on a few menu options at Hardee’s that were - um, how should we say - less than healthy? (See the Fried Bologna Biscuit for yourself.) So in order to give this fast-food chain a fair shake, we took a closer look at their alternative menu, which is touted as being healthier and able to meet the specific dietary needs of its customers.
Rather than creating a menu of low-cal fast-food options, Hardee’s instead takes its traditional menu of burgers and sandwiches and gives you the option to reduce carbs, lower the fat, eliminate the gluten, trim the calories or lose the meat for a vegetarian option.
But is this alternative menu all that healthy? At closer inspection, it resembles a sneaky marketing ploy that slaps on catchy healthy lingo to high-fat and high-calorie fast-food eats.
Is it me or has the fast-food industry recently gone mad with their new and shameful creations of Angus burgers, fried chicken sandwiches, and now fried bologna breakfast biscuits?
Wasn’t it just a few short months ago, KFC introduced their new grilled chicken menu and McDonald’s started placing ads in every parent magazine about how nutritious their small hamburger, apple slices and low-fat milk lunches are?
Maybe it’s a backlash to their healthier intentions, but Hardees has joined the low ranks of KFC and McDonald’s and just launched their new Oscar Mayer Fried Bologna Biscuit sandwich, which is being touted as a throwback comfort food of sorts. Apparently, Hardees like many other fast-food and chain restaurants is trying to appeal to the economically-downtrodden fast-food nation as we seek solace in cheap, processed, comfort foods like fried bologna and biscuits.
It was one of the moments of television-watching where I thought maybe my eyes were playing a trick on me, but then I saw the commercial for KFC’s new Double Down Chicken Sandwich and I realized this was no cruel joke.
This jaw-dropping concoction from the fast-food chicken chain points to why in this country we have our current obesity epidemic. This sandwich (if you can call it that) is two Original Recipe fried chicken filets stacked on top of each other with a slice of pepper jack cheese, a slice of Swiss cheese, two slices of bacon and the Colonel’s secret sauce. No bun. The fried chicken is the bun. Just a stack of saturated fat, sodium and calories.
In a little more than three weeks, my kids go back to school. I’m sure you will be able to hear the shouts of joy all the way from wherever you may be. At just about the same time, fall sports begin. Cue the panic and the terror, because at any one time, I might have three or more places to be, often at the same time or back to back – followed by yet another school meeting/class night/yadda yadda. You know the drill, I’m sure.
There are lots of nights when I stutter around at 5:15, knowing that we’ve got to leave for boxing class in five minutes, then take someone to soccer and then pick up a cross country runner – how, exactly, will dinner happen?
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