Too Much Junk Food?
Last week, an article in Macleans, a Canadian weekly news magazine, caught my eyes: “Despite alarming rates of obesity in Canada, you won’t see calorie counts on menu boards any time soon. Unlike the U.S., there’s just no political will for it.” According to one of the doctors quoted in the article who supports better nutritional information in Canadian restaurant, “When we go shopping for things we look at price tags before we buy them so we can determine whether they’re worth it to us. When we eat things, the currency of our weight is calories.”
This makes a lot of sense to me. Yet, as a former French, I can’t help wondering why such debate is even taking place.
Unlike in France, eating in North America is not just a daily task that involves commonsense and balance. It involves resisting the temptation of “cheap and fast foods” and getting used to split these giant food portions in two (doggy bag, anyone?). And yes, it requires reading labels.
You won’t find any nutritional information on products in France. I guess it doesn’t matter that much because most people follow a commonsense diet, or at least try to: eat more veggies than Nutella, nibble on bread but go easy on the mayonnaise, enjoy some dessert but a small portion of it. But in North America, a lot of restaurants offer super-fatty dishes.
Let’s consider that most people need around 2,000 calories a day. Can you believe a friggin’ carrot cake is 820 calories at Denny’s? That the Chocolate Chip Cookie Sundae is 1,660 calories at Applebee’s? At 500 calories, it makes McDonald’s large French fries look like a healthy meal!
Some comments below MacLeans’ article pointed out that that people should be smart enough to know that eating in fast-food joins everyday and drinking Coke constantly is not good for them. In short, yes, I agree. But it’s not that easy. Plenty of foods we think are “healthy”, that are even sometimes marketed as such, have an appealing nutritional content. Point in case, soups: for instance, Kelsey’s French onion soup is 450 calories, and at Dennys, the broccoli soup is 375 calories – this is three times more than any soup I eat at home.
Like the article explains, estimating calories in a meal isn’t always intuitive. What do you think is “healthier” at first glance: vegetarian Pad Thai noodles or fish & chips? Well, apparently, at Casey’s, the fish & chips is 330 calories, while the Thai noodles 740 calories. You can be truly shocked learning how many calories are in some seemingly innocuous food. I’m sorry, but something as simple as a cookie shouldn’t be as much as 1,000 calories, half of one’s recommended diet.
Now of course, people are free to eat whatever they want. Hell, it’s not like I’m a model myself: I love chocolate, I could eat pasta every day and life without bread would look plain to me. Yet, I had no problem cutting some food from my diet when I learn how “bad” they were. For instance, I learned that almost all bakery items at Starbucks sound healthy (oat bar, carrot cake, scone…) but they average 200 – 600 calories, way more than I expected. How did I learn that? Well, thanks to nutritional information posted.
Now, here is a question to ponder: how do these restaurants come out with these kinds of foods, and why?
Why do fancy coffees come topped with four inches of whipped cream and syrup? Why do burgers come with two, three even four beef patties, with bacon strings in between? Why do croissants need to be dipped in chocolate and cinnamon? Why are pasta dishes in restaurants often dripping oil? Some will argue it tastes better but honestly, do we really need that many “adds-on” to enjoy a meal?
I honestly can’t think of a single good reason to not make restaurants post nutritional information. Unless they don’t want us to know what we eat…?
Related posts:
- The Land Of Plenty
- Fast Food, Junk Food (4÷10)
- Things I Love/ Hate About Canadian Food
- Food in South-East Asia
- The Sweets, The Fat And The Scale
Tagged with:
Food
This is really scaring!
Did you know that you need to swim leisurely for about 30 mins for ONE Kit-Kat?!
Sometimes, I wish I had bulimia! Ha ha
@RennyBA’s Terella — No matter how good local cuisine is, people will go to fast food — I’ve seen packed Mcdonalds across the world. But I think you are right, we did forget where we came from and the way we are supposed to eat.
@DianeCA — You seem to be a great cook, from what I’ve seen on Renny’s blog! Buying lunch isn’t really a problem (or at least it doesn’t have to be) as long as your diet is balanced, and it looks like you are all good on that side!
@khengsiong — Portions in the U.S are even bigger than in Canada — I notice it every time we cross the border. And it certainly is part of the problem.
@Soleil — You are right, I can’t believe how many people even at work live on these lean cuisine microwave meals — and it looks so gross to me, not to mention they are expensive! I guess I’m still French, I always have the reflexe to cook something rather than take out.
@Linguist-in-Waiting — Yes, I think you mentioned the two main reasons.
@Jorge — Very interesting! Yes, you are right come to think of it, food does seem to be emotional for a lot of people. It probably explain why people eat all the time — at the movie, in the car, while shopping… this was so weird to me at first. You are right as well about the dessert — it’s extremely rare I order dessert in a restaurant because I’m invariably stuffed, and I always wonder who has room for these huge piece of cakes. Don,t get me wrong, I love cakes, just not after a huge meal!
@Ghosty Kips — I stopped eating McDonalds many years ago, when I realized burgers could actually be a tasty thing — beef patties in fast food are just gross though.
@shionge — Oh yeah, going to an American Walmart for the first time is always an experience…!
@Jennie — I grew up in France so I don’t notice this, but food is definitely less salty, it may be why it tastes bland to you. Les ethnic food as well. And chocolate-covered bacon? That is just… gross.
@London Caller — Phew. Glad I don,t eat Kit Kat
Speaking of food portions.. Let’s say..McDonald in Canada compared to McDonald in China. Any difference?
I keep hearing about bigger food portions but it’s kinda hard to imagine.
Hi Zhu
I just read : chocolate cover with bacon : yukkkkkkkkkkkk !!!
It must be pretty difficult to actually show the nutrional facts outside small restaurants but for chains like Pizza Hut, or other restaurants where the food is always the same, it should be easy no ?
If only they want to .
You’re right, there’is so much more weird food in Canada, tempting yummy yucky unhealthy food, easy take away, that’s eay to put on weight and forget about simple cooking.
Your food posts are always some of my favorites. I just read Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan and I highly recommend it as a non-preachy eye-opening look at food and our relationship with food in the United States. I’m pretty sure much of it is applicable to Canada as well, since we both have fast food, processed food, obesity, etc.