Healthy Fast Food: Future in Doubt?

I'm less sure that macdonalds is promoting salads as a way of getting individuals to come in, but more to stop familys/groups from choosing to go elsewhere. In a large group of people, odds are that someone is concerned about their health/diet. That person effectively vetos any decision by the group to go to a purely junk-food outlet. However, if there are salad options, that person takes a salad, everyone else gets burgers, macdonalds keeps lots of business.

In australia, I've noticed that macdonalds seems to have gone about the right track with its healthier food. It started with salads, but they didn't seem to go so well. Then it tried emulating Subway's roll success, and it was a hit. Plenty of people buy the rolls, partly because they're similar enough to a burger. Two bits of macdonald's-tasting bread, with macdonald's-tasting salad, some lean chicken heavily flavoured, macdonald's-tasting dressing - voila! - a better food that taps into everything individuals go to macdonalds for. The rolls also benefit from the fact they aren't a 100% healthy line, and aren't tarred by the healthy = bland brush.

You are over analyzing it.

Sometimes a salad is just that - a salad.

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I agree with Claire's comment. I think McDonalds and the like are trying to appeal to a wider market - and are offering salads so that there's something for health-conscious people to eat when they go to McDonalds with friends or family.

BUT - Did you know that McDonald's salads have as much salt in them as a Big Mac and large fries? So they are not as healthy as they would first appear to be. I wrote about this yesterday.

Who knows what is healthy. The science is so confusing right now. I live in southern Nevada. When the temps are 114 and up, you couldn't make it to the mail box with out salt in your diet.

The regular fast food burger menu fits right into the new food pyramid recommendation that most calories come from grains and starchy vegetables. They say only half the grains should be whole grains. So there you go, eat those big ole burger buns and fries. The Fed approves.

Two points for me! Yeah!

Compare Merab Mogan of Henderson, N.C. and Morgan Spurlock of the “Super Size Me” fame.

There is a forgotten art called "self control"...

A healthy lifestyle is 90% self control 5% diet, 5% exercise. (And I mean diet as in food choice, not as some covoluted methodology.)

Sometimes I wonder if people even know what "self-control" means anymore, at least when it comes to food choices. No one is sitting there forcing McD's food down your throat. Just because food is there does not mean you have to eat it. I'm around junk food a lot, people bring in treats at work, etc. But I don't EAT it all or I'd be a blimp.

McDonalds set the standard for all fast food restaurants. I just wounder if anyone realizes fast food restaurants have brain washed everyone since we were children.
I am researching for a college paper; my paper is based on what I find interesting from the book "Fast Food Nation" by,Eric Schlosser and the movie "Super Size Me", by Morgan Spurlock. I've been searching the web for what the world can do to put an end to potentially powerful corporations? When will it be to late? If things continue they way they are, I'm expected to out live my children. I personally feel that peoples' individual choices will not be enough to win the battle against these rich and powerful corporations and I believe the goverment should force the healthiest means of mass food production as possible. It's not like McDonalds does not have enough money to ensure healthy food. Plus in turn McDonalds could ensure to even everyday customers a well balanced diet.
The fast food corporations are spending hundreds of millions of dollars a year on advertising to keep customers hooked and coming back for more. The healthy foods (fruits and vegetables) are only spending an average of two million dollars a year on advertising. I think the fast food industry could afford to forfeit nearly all their advertising money for healthy food and still increase profits.
The only problem remaining is competition. The reason fast food is so fatening is because that's where all the "great" flavor comes from. If two restaurants open and one adds sugar to their salad, people will crave thier salad over the other restaurants.
The only way the world will see healthy fast food is if 1) the goverment controls mass food production and all that is in it (even "natural flavors") or 2) the fast food industry monopolizes (leaving only one fast food restaurant avaliable for an option to customers) and has only healthy foods on thier menu.
Honestly, if McDonalds was the only available fast food restaurant, people would still eat there even if the food did not taste especially great. As long as the food is cheap, efficient and quick, people will consume it.
What is the world waiting for? I live in America, I caught my tongue on that last line. I almost said, "what is America waiting for?" America is the fattest nation of all and the fast food industry is to blame. We are a bunch of lazy, underpaid, brain washed suckers with not enough time (yeah right) to eat healthy??? As bad as it sounds it's true!
If I were president of America people would hate me. Not because my ideas are off the wall but because I'd force people to eat healthy and create a stronger society or perhaps world.
That's sad!!!

Hello, I just had a healthy fruit salad at my local restaurant and I was awed at the price and the contents for example 3.49 for it oh my gosh I am hungrier now than what I was before I ate the half rotted green apples and soft as heck not eatable grapes, the walnuts were good, I will not go back again,I really think it was a rip off.... Jackie

Mike, good luck on your paper...the topic is fascinating. I read "Fast Food Nation" and thought it was incredibly interesting. I often wonder why the US government doesn't spend more on advertising healthy foods. I've seen a slight increase...there are potato ads now and the "Eat 5 a day" campaign. But that doesn't change the availability of these foods at all. Fast food places are convenient, but they aren't the only convenient place you could buy food. Gas stations, grocery stores, etc., need to jump on the bandwagon and start advertising THEIR healthy foods. My local Kwik Trip has apples, ready made salads, carrot sticks, and lots of choices of healthy beverages and sandwiches. I go there to get snacks when I travel; not McDonald's.

Mike,
I lecture in Australia in PE and health and am part of a team wrting a text on P.E. and Health. Can I use your comment as an article for discussion to put in the book? Can you let me know by Dec. 3 if possible?

I would just like to say that its good that Mcdonalds and other fast food places are getting healthy things into there resturants!

I fully agree that self control is a big issue for healthy consumption, but wouldn't choices make a big difference. There are alot of young people today filling their artery's consistantly,not even knowing it. If healthier choices were there to make it could possibly promote these youngsters to eat healthier.

This comment is for Jessica in Australia,first of all fast food restaurants are a chain not an outlet, next, America has also been quoted as having the most BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE,as well as being the richest nation, yet I don't see you complaining about that. Oh yeah, we are the nicest too, so you enjoy your day, OK. Now we know what they mean by "Down under, don't we?"

geez layla im from the land down under and trust me you are not the nicest people i believe the canadians got that claim to fame and second came new zealand now that we have that sorted i gotta say that im totally for fast food restaurants doing the new healthy food thing. its great to have a choice... you might agree that 70% of people still eat the same as they did before but for those other 30% its a great change. I work at subway which is still healthier than mc donalds but i on majority have people coming in asking for wheat roles and no cheese these people are trying to eat healthy and i believe its working.. how are people meant to change their bad eating habits if their wernt given a choice now its up to them to do what is best for their body and health

But now we are so busy that we don't have time to go to a restaurant that has heathly choices and it seems so easy to go to a fast food restaurant and it there what do we do to prevent this?

I agree with tom. What do we do? we are so busy that it is so easy to pick up unhealthy food.

tom & Jacob: What you do is become stronger than the challenge ahead of you. We, as humans, are capable of quite a lot. You tighten up your schedule, you cut out some recreation activities, you cook in bulk, or something. If your health is important enough to you, you'll find a way. It sounds like you either need to start believing in yourself, or you need to admit you have something more important to you, something that takes higher priority.

uhh. what will people do in the future to help fastfood become heatheir?

I know this has nothing to do with fast food, but what will people do in the future about chocolate with their companies..etc.

THANKS!!! =)

i love you allie

I think it is good that Mcdolnolds has some heatlthy food , but I think that more places should serve helthy food too .so we could have more healthy places and more food to chose. It not good when you are traveling and the only place you can find is a place with no healthy food.Therefore i think we should have more healther choises in fastfood and maybe that could save alot of peoples lives

If Americans had an option for fast food that was healthy, would they eat there?? If they could drive up to a fast food restuarant an order a half of a whole wheat toasted bagel with egg whites, tomato and melted cheddar cheese for breakfast instead of a biscuit with bacon, eggs and cheese would they? If people had the fast food option would they eat healthy?? As adults, regardless of what has been infused into our culture, shouldn't we know what healthy options are and how to choose them?

I am making a project on McDonalds and this blog really helped me a lot. The reason im doing a project is for NHD or National History Day. I want to thank everybody for helping me with my project that posted a comment on this blog.

I don't want to buy a salad from Mc Donalds. If I go to Mc Donalds, I go there because I feel like a burger and fries not because I feel like a salad.

What rubbish. If I feel like healthy fast food, I'll go to Subway.

Fast food is a stern master, if you eat in it's house, you will be it's slave!

fast food sucks... no joke

Spectra said:
Sometimes I wonder if people even know what "self-control" means anymore, at least when it comes to food choices. No one is sitting there forcing McD's food down your throat. Just because food is there does not mean you have to eat it. I'm around junk food a lot, people bring in treats at work, etc. But I don't EAT it all or I'd be a blimp. [...]

My friend, it's not quite that simple. Ever heard of High-Fructose Corn-Syrup? It's a malicious lil' chemical used to preserve the "sweetness" of a good majority of food-items in modern society. However, little do people know--it makes you hungrier and thirstier if consumed. It stops a chemical that tells your brain you're full from reaching your central-nervous system. Not only that, but there's also Food Addiction, Food Compensation, Genetically inherited "tastes" and hungers. The reason obesity is such a huge thing is because of the easily accessed foods. There's no such thing as "self-control", it's called "Biologically adjusted Metabolism and Neural functioning."

There is no question that some foods, additives and styles of eating make it harder to be succesful at weight control. I would like to suggest, however, that having a victim mentality makes it the hardest of all. We do not have to be a "prisoner of our biologic urges," do we??

I refuse to believe that we are somehow not responsible for any of our actions when it comes to food. High fructose corn syrup isn't something that will MAKE you gain weight, it's just one of those things that's in a lot of foods that will increase it's caloric value. I mean, reducing our obesity situation to be the fault of the food industry is ridiculous...do we not have a brain?? People can think for themselves, it's just that for a lot of people, they don't care enough about what they eat to really discriminate. I used to eat fast food a lot, mostly because I kind of liked it and it was convenient. I sure didn't care that it had most of my daily calories in one meal. Once I started caring about my health, I stopped eating that stuff and I don't really miss it. I really HOPE there is still self control and self discipline out there. I know that I will never be fat again...I know what to do to NOT get fat and that's enough motivation for me to not eat the donuts that are put out in front of me.

Can a "healthy" fastfood alternative ever come to fruition? I believe it would need to start with our children, as a responsible parent, I would love to have that choice. What attracts us to Mcdonalds? Lets see, I'll take a stab at it. Mcdonalds welcomes children, it feels to them like a big play house, from the colorful seating to the jungle gym to the toy in the happy meal, and a place they don't have to be quite, give me one other example of that. Us parents like it becuase it's fun for the kids and we can feed a family of four for 12 bucks. I think one could create a resturant with a similar atmosphere with and menu full of only healthy choices, but the problem is the expense of such food. Junk food is so much cheaper to make, sadly, I don't see the idea ever flying.

fast food is good easpecially burger king u can't mess with that hahahahaha :)

I have an idea for a healthy fast food restaurant. I think the problem with people not wanting the healthier alternatives at McDondalds and other restaurants because they have better tasting and filling foods available. The healthier alternatives are ones I wouldn't personally eat even though I am a health nut. I don't fill up on salads alone. I love to eat as well (I'm actually really thin, my metabolism is crazy). The healthier alternatives sometimes are not all that health they just look healthier. Not only that they don't have much flavor or too much of one thing, like lettuce. If you are eating healthy shouldn't you have a balanced diet. Not a one or two item diet.
My idea is to have an organic, healthy fast food restaurant. The food has flavor and can be made fast with preparation. What do you guys think about that idea?

Mitzi said:
I have an idea for a healthy fast food restaurant. I think the problem with people not wanting the healthier alternatives at McDondalds and other restaurants because they have better tasting and filling foods available. The healthier alternatives are ones I wouldn't personally eat even though I am a health nut. I don't fill up on salads alone. I lo[...]

I just moved to US to study. I was surprised that there isn't any healthy fast food restaurants here. Because of that I got the same kind of idea you have. Actually I have had the idea already in Finland, where I am from, but I think the markets in US would be much better for that kind of restaurant (Finnish food is already helthier than food in US).
Mitzi, Would you like to start the business with me :) ?

I will totally agree to the healthy fast food ideas. This is something I have also wanted to implement as it truly is something that could help everyone with the ability to have balanced nutrition. The more people that are aware of such an idea, the better off our society and our weight issues would be.

Mitzi said:
I have an idea for a healthy fast food restaurant. I think the problem with people not wanting the healthier alternatives at McDondalds and other restaurants because they have better tasting and filling foods available. The healthier alternatives are ones I wouldn't personally eat even though I am a health nut. I don't fill up on salads alone. I lo[...]

I am currently working on plans to start a fast food chain out of Los Angeles, I would love for you to email me about any ideas you may have, there may be a large work opportunity for you. Best, -Scott

I am for the idea of healthy fast food restaurants with Asian food items.