Blog Post 5

CALORIES ARE EVERYWHERE

Proposed Labeling Requirements

According to the FDA (The Food and Drug Administration) proposed “regulations that would ensure calorie labeling on menus and menu boards in chain restaurants, retail food establishments, and vending machines with 20 or more locations.” [1] This would publicize how many calories a meal possessed. In the United States where the obesity is becoming a large issue (no pun intended) and people are becoming more health conscious. Almost one in every three adults suffers from obesity. “Obesity-related conditions include heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes and certain types of cancer, some of the leading causes of preventable death.”[2] Furthermore, “The estimated annual medical cost of obesity in the U.S. was $147 billion in 2008 U.S. dollars; the medical costs for people who are obese were $1,429 higher than those of normal weight.”[3] Obesity is a rising problem and much is going into research and development to prevent such diseases.

“Health Conscious” Decisions

This can have a large impact on restaurant and food companies. This can turn off potential customers. People who know how many calories are in a Big Mac and medium fry (over 800 calories), may choose a more healthier fast food restaurant. Other companies such as Subway have adapted to this new changing idea of being health conscious. Their slogans consist of their catch phrase, “Eat Fresh” and others going off of that one such as, “Start Fresh This Fall”. These catch phrases though seem simple have a huge impact on their customer base. (Even though McDonalds is not that much worse for you). If someone pulls into a rest stop and have the decision between McDonalds and Subway, they are going to be more tempted to go with a more healthy foot long rather than a Big Mac. A sweet onion chicken teriyaki foot long at Subway is 740 calories. That is just the sandwich itself. The marketing technique that Subway uses is very effective even though they are deceiving their customers. Their customers believe that you are eating healthier when in reality they are still consuming almost the same amount of calories.

Supersize Me

How did McDonalds get such a bad reputation? It can be because many different reasons, however, one major reason that McDonalds lost a lot of its reputation and prestige is the movie Super Size Me. To prove a point, Morgan Spurlock ate McDonalds every meal for 30 days. After eating McDonalds every meal for just a week, he had already gained over ten pounds. By the end of the 30 days his body mass had increased 10% and he had gained over 20 pounds. He had preformed the experience because he wanted to investigate the epidemic of obesity. Obesity is not just a problem from eating McDonalds; as Spurlock wrote, it is an epidemic. Putting calories on every menu would be beneficial for the conscious consumer but how will affect smaller, local companies. Will loyalty be enough?

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[1][1] “Overview of FDA Proposed Labeling Requirements for Restaurants, Similar Retail Food Establishments and Vending Machines,” US Food and Drug Administration, http://www.fda.gov/Food/IngredientsPackagingLabeling/LabelingNutrition/ucm248732.htm

[2] “Overweight and Obesity,” Center for Diesease Control and Prevention. http://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/adult.html

[3] Ibid.