Canadian Fastfood Analysis
Today's Globe and Mail featured a story on the transfat content of fastfood in Canada. This study was commissioned by the newspaper, but mirrored a similar study published in the New England Journal of Medicine that analyzed the transfat content of fastfoods in 21 countries, of which Canada was not one of the countries included in the study, and concluded that American fastfood contained significantly more transfats than what is found in many European countries. A summary of the NEJM study can be found in The Toronto Star's news archives.
The G&M study analyzed fastfood from a number of popular fastfood chains in a number of different cities across Canada. According to the results of this study, only KFC's chicken and fries in Poland and Hungary contained more transfat than their Canadian counterparts.
More interesting were the regional differences in transfat content within Canada. A KFC chicken and fries meal in Toronto has 10 times more transfat than a similar KFC meal in Vancouver! A Burger King chicken nuggets and fries meal in Toronto contains 13 grams of transfat, while in Vancouver the same meal contains 3.1 grams of transfats.
According to the nutritional information provided on Burger King's website, 4 pcs of chicken tenders and a small order of fries contains a total of 8 grams of transfat. KFC doesn't and isn't required to provide information on the transfat content of their food. And that, is probably the most disturbing thing to come out of this article.
I will not outright condemn fastfood, since I am not immune to the odd craving now and then. However, it troubles me (and it should trouble you also) that fastfood companies are not required to provide as much nutritional information as foods sold in grocery stores. And even when they do provide nutritional information, the consumer must visit the company's website or specifically ask for this information. It's rare to find brochures with nutritional information at the ordering counter, ready for your perusal.
Consumers need to be able to compare nutritional data and make informed choices at the time of purchase - because who can really remember, in so much detail, what they read on a website the day before about fat/sodium/sugar content of what they are about to order? When you go grocery shopping, that information is readily available on the food packaging so you can make informed choices about which product is the best option, on the spot. No one I know sits in front of a computer with their grocery list, making nutritional and product comparisons before grocery shopping. Likewise, fastfood consumers should not be expected to decide what they want for lunch and do the nutritional comparisons before even stepping into the restaurant.
The G&M study analyzed fastfood from a number of popular fastfood chains in a number of different cities across Canada. According to the results of this study, only KFC's chicken and fries in Poland and Hungary contained more transfat than their Canadian counterparts.
More interesting were the regional differences in transfat content within Canada. A KFC chicken and fries meal in Toronto has 10 times more transfat than a similar KFC meal in Vancouver! A Burger King chicken nuggets and fries meal in Toronto contains 13 grams of transfat, while in Vancouver the same meal contains 3.1 grams of transfats.
According to the nutritional information provided on Burger King's website, 4 pcs of chicken tenders and a small order of fries contains a total of 8 grams of transfat. KFC doesn't and isn't required to provide information on the transfat content of their food. And that, is probably the most disturbing thing to come out of this article.
I will not outright condemn fastfood, since I am not immune to the odd craving now and then. However, it troubles me (and it should trouble you also) that fastfood companies are not required to provide as much nutritional information as foods sold in grocery stores. And even when they do provide nutritional information, the consumer must visit the company's website or specifically ask for this information. It's rare to find brochures with nutritional information at the ordering counter, ready for your perusal.
Consumers need to be able to compare nutritional data and make informed choices at the time of purchase - because who can really remember, in so much detail, what they read on a website the day before about fat/sodium/sugar content of what they are about to order? When you go grocery shopping, that information is readily available on the food packaging so you can make informed choices about which product is the best option, on the spot. No one I know sits in front of a computer with their grocery list, making nutritional and product comparisons before grocery shopping. Likewise, fastfood consumers should not be expected to decide what they want for lunch and do the nutritional comparisons before even stepping into the restaurant.
posted by Sergeant Pepper at
9:21 AM
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