Fast Food Nutrition Guide
Easily prepared and fast served food is called fast food. The concept has grown worldwide with many restaurants coming up day in day out. One of the reasons for this type of restaurants becoming most sought after is low investment requirement for the entrepreneurs and varieties of foods served in a short period of time for the consumers. In most of cases, the food is made ready-made and is served repeatedly heating it.
Facts about Fast Food
Fast food is prepared in places of unhygienic conditions, kept it for long periods of time and repeatedly heated to make them tastier. In the endeavor to make them more palatable the nutritional value is given secondary importance. But some renowned restaurants do give importance for dietetic food.
Small vendors prepare food with some basic ingredients and toppings that can be cooked in batches and served fast. The success of his restaurant lies in the fact, how fast he is able to serve with different food items satisfying a spectrum of customers. Modern processed food industry comes with packed food in highly processed condition giving the consumer minimal time for preparation.
The food coming in this fashion comes in cartons, bags, or plastic wrappings with minimal cost. The commercial need of marketing the product with freshness and flavor necessitates the use of ingredients formulated to achieve this. Hydrogenated vegetable oil, which contains unsaturated fat, is one such item, which is more often than not is used in the preparation. Moreover the process and methods employed in the manufacturing stage certainly reduces the nutritional value of fast food.
Nutrition Facts
Seeing the craziness with which fast food restaurants are crowded and the new varieties of food items being offered there, experts have started analyzing their nutrition facts. One should take care of his body by taking proper food. The daily requirement of calorie and nutritional needs should be analyzed and accordingly intake of food should be planned.
In this connection, many fast foods eating guides have come out. These guides help plan your meal taking into consideration your body type, weight and needs. Eating healthier food in these restaurants has acquired a new dimension in that direction. The terrific growth of these restaurants has resulted in severe opposition from nutrition conscious people and voluntary health organizations. This is mainly to preserve local cuisines and ingredients.
Nutrition has taken a back seat because of its cheapness. In the two extremes of highly hygienic and costly restaurants and the unhygienic street vendors, the street vendors have gained good prominence among the middle class families. They have no alternative other than going for this category of food in view of their purchasing power. The common criticisms with regard to the nutritional aspects of fast food are:
They are unhealthy and excessive consumption leads to obesity. Their advertising tactics specially target children who are more affected by the food habits and eating plan. The importance of local cuisine is greatly affected.
With more and more eateries coming out with scant respect for nutritional aspects of eating the task of regulation is going to be very tough. The under nutrition and the erratic food eating habit they inflict on young ones will have a telling effect on the health of the people, especially younger generations. Let us hope good sense will prevail in the days to come to maintain the quality of the foods offered by the fast food industry as a whole.
