{"id":4759,"date":"2015-06-25T08:17:33","date_gmt":"2015-06-25T13:17:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.personaltrainersindallas.com\/?p=4759"},"modified":"2015-06-25T08:17:33","modified_gmt":"2015-06-25T13:17:33","slug":"are-fast-foods-getting-healthier","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newwavefitness.com\/blog\/are-fast-foods-getting-healthier\/","title":{"rendered":"Are Fast Foods Getting Healthier?"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Dr. Stephen Chaney<\/strong>
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Taco Bell and Pizza Hut both announced that they are dropping certain artificial ingredients from their food products. Are fast foods getting healthier or is this just window dressing?<\/p>\n

Would You Like Hydrocolloids With Your “Healthy Fast Food”?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

The fast food industry is changing. Some of the changes are good. Some of the changes are bad. Some of the changes are downright ugly.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s start with the good.\u00a0 In recent months Panera, MacDonald\u2019s and Subway have all announced that they are switching to ingredients that people can recognize \u2013 ingredients that you might actually use in your own kitchen. Chipotle has recently announced that they have removed all genetically modified organisms from their foods.<\/p>\n

Pizza Hut said that it will remove artificial colors and preservatives from its food. Taco Bell pledged to remove artificial colors, artificial flavors, high-fructose corn syrup and palm oil from its foods.<\/p>\n

For example, Taco Bell will start using real pepper instead of \u201cblack pepper flavor\u201d in its food (I didn\u2019t even realize that there was an artificial pepper flavor. Come on! Real pepper can\u2019t be that expensive!). They also plan to remove Yellow No. 6 from their nacho cheese, Blue No. 2 from their avocado ranch dressing, and carmine from their red tortilla strips.<\/p>\n

Are restaurants starting to make healthy fast food? Or is this all for show?<\/p>\n

Are Fast Food Chains Actually Serving Healthy Fast Food?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Now let\u2019s look at the bad. Perhaps the first question to ask is: \u201cWhy is the fast food industry making these changes? Have they suddenly decided that they want to become part of the health food industry?\u201d<\/p>\n

One clue to those questions is the name of the parent company that owns both Pizza Hut and Taco Bell. They call themselves Yum Foods. You will notice that they don\u2019t call themselves Health Foods. Their name alone speaks volumes about their priorities.<\/p>\n

When the CEO of Yum Foods was describing these changes, he didn\u2019t speak about any desire to make the foods healthier. He spoke about responding to shifting consumer attitudes and the desire of consumers for \u201creal food\u201d as driving these kinds of changes. The bottom line is that fast food companies are realizing that consumers are becoming more aware of the dangers of artificial ingredients and are making their buying choices accordingly. The companies simply don\u2019t want to lose market share.<\/p>\n

The second question to ask is: \u201cAre these foods actually healthier?\u201d The answer is: \u201cNot really\u201d. None of these companies are talking about removing fat, sugar, salt or calories from their foods. They are more concerned with retaining the \u201cyum\u201d factor than they are in actually making the foods healthier.<\/p>\n

Do You Want Hydrocolloids With That Pizza?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"pizza\"Now let\u2019s talk about the ugly. Perhaps the most important questions you should be asking are: \u201cWhat is behind the curtain?\u201d \u201cWhat aren\u2019t they telling us about?\u201d The answer is: \u201cYou probably don\u2019t want to know.\u201d<\/p>\n

For example, I came across an interesting article in a food industry journal. A Spanish company called Premium Ingredients was announcing that they had developed a new “food” product from hydrocolloids and melting salts that could be used to replace casein in pizza toppings.<\/p>\n

But, first a bit of background:<\/p>\n

You’ve heard nutritionists claim that pizza is a perfect food because it contains foods from all four food groups. Of course, that’s ignoring the fact that pizza is generally made with white flour and contains lots of fat – mostly saturated, calories and sodium.<\/p>\n

But, when you look at many of the frozen and fast food pizzas on the market it gets even worse.<\/p>\n

You noticed that Premium Ingredients didn’t say that their hydrocolloids\/melting salts mixture could be used to replace cheese. They said that it could be used to replace casein. That’s because many pizza manufacturers haven’t used real cheese in years.<\/p>\n

Instead they are using casein (milk protein) and a chemical smorgasbord to manufacture a cheese “food” with the taste and consistency of cheese.<\/p>\n

Cheese is a good source of protein and calcium, and it supplies a lot of other essential nutrients as well – such as vitamin D, vitamin A, vitamin B12, riboflavin, folic acid, magnesium & zinc. Some of the artificial cheeses on the market do supply the calcium found in real cheese, but almost none of them provide the other essential micronutrients. But, because the artificial cheeses have been made with casein up to now, we could at least count on them to supply the protein found in real cheese.<\/p>\n

Now, thanks to Premium Ingredients, the manufacturers of frozen and fast food pizzas won’t even have to use casein-containing artificial cheeses. In their trade journal article Premium Ingredients boasted that their product will help manufacturers cut costs (and cut protein and essential nutrients in the process). Lucky us!<\/p>\n

The Bottom Line<\/strong><\/p>\n

1)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 A number of fast food chains have recently announced that they are removed some artificial ingredients from their foods.<\/p>\n

2)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 These changes appear to arise from a desire to respond to changes in consumer preferences rather than to actually make healthy fast food.<\/p>\n

3)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 For example, most of the fast food chains that are removing artificial ingredients from their foods are making no effect to reduce fat, sugar, salt and calories. Fast foods are not becoming health foods.<\/p>\n

4)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Even worse are the hidden ingredients you don\u2019t know about. For example, a fast food supplier recently announced that it had developed a mixture of hydrocolloids and melting salts that could be used in place of casein (milk protein) for the \u201ccheese food\u201d that fast food chains for their pizza topping.<\/p>\n

5)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 That saves the fast food chains money, but it leaves you with a pizza that gives you no milk, no calcium, no vitamin D and less of many other essential nutrients.<\/p>\n

6)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Pizzas are just the tip of the iceberg. Most of us no longer make complex foods like pizza from scratch. We count on manufacturers to use the same natural ingredients that we would use. But, in fact we have no idea of what they are putting in the foods that we are eating. That is why our food supply is becoming depleted of essential nutrients in ways that we don’t even know about. That’s one reason why I use food supplements and why I recommend food supplements for others.<\/p>\n

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These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This information is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.<\/em><\/p>\n

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About The Author<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

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\"Dr.<\/b><\/b>Dr. Chaney has a BS in Chemistry from Duke University and a PhD in Biochemistry from UCLA. He is Professor Emeritus from the University of North Carolina where he taught biochemistry and nutrition to medical and dental students for 40 years. Dr. Chaney won numerous teaching awards at UNC, including the Academy of Educators \u201cExcellence in Teaching Lifetime Achievement Award.”\u00a0Dr Chaney also ran an active cancer research program at UNC and published over 100 scientific articles and reviews in peer-reviewed scientific journals. In addition, he authored two chapters on nutrition in one of the leading biochemistry text books for medical students.<\/div>\n
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Additional Resources to Help You:<\/b><\/div>\n
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For assistance with proper supplementation, nutrition and fitness, visit www.NewWaveFitness.com<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n

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For more helpful tips from Dr. Chaney, visit www.HealthTipsFromTheProfessor.com<\/a><\/span><\/div>\n
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Visit NewWaveFitness.MyShaklee.com<\/a><\/span> for natural supplementation and nutrition products.<\/p>\n

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