Pacific Standard March-April 2013 Cover

Can We Expect to See the Dollar Menu Devalued?

April 23, 2013 • By • Leave a Comment
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"Value menus" increasingly seem a bad physical deal for consumers—and now perhaps a bum fiscal deal for fast-food purveyors. The cheap chow, long a target for nutrition-focused researchers and  locavoring  advocates, has been criticized for all manner of bad outcomes, mostly centered on obesity. Fast food in general is assailed by these same sources, of course—the book is Fast Food Nation, after all, and not Dollar Menu Dominion—but value menus (and their late cousin "supersize") are seen as particularly egregious in making fat-laden crappy food—despite all the menu labeling, soda ... Read More

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Ronald McDonald, Swing Voter

August 6, 2012 • By • Leave a Comment

If that bumper sticker or yard sign wasn’t enough to publicize your political stance, then the Chick Fil-A tempest in a Styrofoam cup, with its attendant kiss-ins and appreciation days, gives you another chance to let your flag fly. But in the absence of a Chick Fil-A, or on a Sunday when its closed, where does a budding Democrat or latent Republican dine (or demonstrate) to show their affiliation? Sunday, the Los Angeles Times offered a handy chart (click here to see it) on its op-ed page showing many popular U.S. fast food and fast casual restaurants and plotting where their patrons ... Read More

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Calm Down, Step Away From the Burger

May 4, 2012 • By • Leave a Comment
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If it’s true that we are what we eat, then people who eat a lot of trans fatty acids — common in fast foods ­— might be a bit touchier than the rest of us. In a new study of eating habits and behavior, Dr. Beatrice Golomb, a researcher and professor at the University of California, San Diego medical school, lays out evidence that a diet high in trans fats is linked to traits of irritability and aggression. In her study, Golomb gave 945 Californians who had already enrolled in a drug clinical trial a standard dietary questionnaire that asked what they ate and how often they ate ... Read More

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For Americans, Mobility Breeds Uniformity

August 25, 2011 • By • Leave a Comment

We Americans take fierce pride in our individualism, but you wouldn’t know it by looking at our subdivisions and shopping malls. From Boston to Burbank, we buy the same nationally advertised products at the same chain stores and restaurants, happily embracing conformity as we proudly proclaim our uniqueness. Why does our self-image fail to reflect reality? Researchers led by University of Virginia psychologists Shigehiro Oishi and Felicity Miao offer an intriguing answer. They argue our willingness to move far from home leads us to crave the comfort of sameness in our immediate ... Read More

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Some People Do Heed Fast-Food Calorie Data

July 31, 2011 • By •

You're next in line to get the McDonald's burger you've been craving and so close that you can almost taste it. But there’s just one problem: Right next to the words "Double Quarter-Pounder with Cheese" on the menu is the number 740 — as in calories. If this makes your jaw drop and your cravings wave a white flag, you're not alone, but you're close to it. A new study conducted in New York City found about 15 percent of customers took the nutritional information into consideration when making their food choice. "One in six customers reported using the calorie information when making ... Read More

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Evidence Menu Labels Don’t Affect Calorie Consumption

January 20, 2011 • By • Leave a Comment

Having made a decision to dine on fast food, additional information about the composition of its delights doesn't seem to affect decisions about what to enjoy. That's the takeaway message from a new but limited study drawn from Taco Time restaurants in the Seattle area. Researchers led by Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School's Eric A. Finkelstein examined the impact — or lack of it — of mandatory menu-labeling laws. They found that the number of sales and average number of calories purchased were the same at eateries with the data as at eateries without. Usually citing alarming ... Read More

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Don’t Expect Soda Tax to Curb Obesity

December 21, 2010 • By • Leave a Comment

Opponents of so-called soda taxes often argue that they would disproportionately punish low-income people. The poor buy more pop than the rich, who you'd more likely find in line at a fresh-fruit smoothie bar than in the carbonated beverage aisle at the grocery store, the thinking goes. But a new study examining the potential effects of hefty taxes on sugary beverages — such as those that have been considered in New York, Colorado and California — specifically looked at different income classes and found a pair of surprising results. Low-income groups aren't financially hit much harder ... Read More

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Feeling Impatient? Blame That Whopper

March 22, 2010 • By • Leave a Comment

Americans have been saving less and less of their income in recent decades, a trend that has only recently abated. At the same time, we have been eating more and more meals at fast-food restaurants. Coincidence? Perhaps not. A new study suggests thinking about fast-food chains — or even being exposed momentarily to their logos — can increase impatience and intensify one’s desire for immediate gratification. Two University of Toronto researchers, Chen-Bo Zhong and Sanford DeVoe, reach that conclusion in a paper titled "You Are How You Eat," just published in the journal ... Read More

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Information: The New Weight-Loss Drug

February 2, 2010 • By • 1 Comment

McDonald's Cheeseburger: 300 calories. Small Fries: 230 Calories. One percent Low Fat Chocolate Milk Jug: 170 Calories. Watching your child gain 10 pounds in one year? Priceless. It's no secret that childhood obesity in America is on the rise. Nor is it surprising that this rise has been paralleled by a growth in the nation's fast-food consumption. But a new study led by Pooja S. Tandon from Seattle Children's Research Institute suggests a new item for Happy Meals: information. She found that parents provided with calorie information on a fast-food menu chose meals for their children with ... Read More

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Would You Like Nutrition Info With That?

May 7, 2009 • By • 2 Comments

You ever see those big posters at fast-food chains? You know, the ones filled with all that nutritional information? Don't worry. Hardly anyone else has, either. New research out of Yale University published in the American Journal of Public Health shows that just 0.1 percent of customers visiting restaurants like McDonald's and Burger King actually look at the nutritional content they display or offer in pamphlets. What the eating public doesn't know may hurt them: Many prior studies have shown that people underestimate the caloric content of fast-food meals, which are higher in ... Read More

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