Fat Food

Have you been watching the news lately?  Suddenly, it seems, there is all sorts of news about how overweight Americans are! According to JAMA - The Journal of the American Medical Association:

In 2007-2008, the prevalence of obesity was 32.2% among adult men and 35.5% among adult women. The increases in the prevalence of obesity previously observed do not appear to be continuing at the same rate over the past 10 years, particularly for women and possibly for men.

So what is going on?  Why are we getting so fat?  I have a possible answer.  I was surfing CNN today (my favorite news site and came across the following article:

(CNN) -- In the midst of first lady Michelle Obama's campaign against child obesity and chef Jamie Oliver's prime-time TV initiative for cleaner cooking, a chicken chain is crowing about some aggressively fat-laden fare.

KFC's long-rumored Double Down waddles into stores on April 12, boasting an ingredient list that prompted a copywriters' caveat on the product's Web page that it is "Real! No fooling."
The bun-free ("so meaty, there's no room") sandwich features two pieces of bacon, two slices of melted cheese and "Colonel's Sauce" - which KFC officials said is a "zesty mayonnaise" -- slathered between two chicken filets, either original recipe (540 calories and 32 fat grams per KFC.com) or the slightly slimmer grilled version (460 calories and 23 fat grams).

Taco Bell Chicken Ranch Taco Salad

A salad sounds pretty sensible, right? Depends on what you mean by "salad." A cheeky 2009 commercial for the chain's crispy tortilla-swaddled heaps of rice, beans, cheese, meat and additional tortilla strips defined the dish as "technically a salad" due to the presence of some lettuce shreds buried under the other ingredients.

The Bell's 54 fat-grammed Chicken Ranch Taco Salad is the second most caloric item on the menu, weighing in at 910, but comes served, improbably, with reduced fat sour cream.

Is fat fare at fast foods going too far?

Okay, seriously?  A salad that is roughly 1000 calories and contains 54 grams of fat!?  That is so wrong on so many levels.  Some poor person who is trying to cut back will unknowingly go in, think they are "being good" by ordering a salad, and order enough calories for an entire day and enough fat for about 3 days!  That just seems mean!  There should be a law against that!  Not everyone has practice reading labels and nutrition guides.  For that matter, when was the last time anyone saw a nutrition guide in a Taco Bell?   What is wrong with the chihuahua?  Why are supposedly intelligent people listening to a little rat dog in the first place?  Do they hate people who are honestly trying to lose weight? Was the Prom Queen mean to them in High School and this is their revenge?  I think there should be a fine imposed on any restaurant who serves a salad like that!

Now let's discuss that gruesome "sandwich".  Who came up with that?  Instead of calling that thing the "Double Down" they should rename it the "Double Bypass"!  Because that is what is going to happen to people who eat the things!  It just sounds gross!  Fried meat as patties?  Come on!  If the Federal Government is so worried about people getting fat, why can't they do something about that?

If everyone is so concerned about the "fatty foods" we are eating, maybe someone should impose some sanctions, or better yet, incentives to fast food restaurants to come up with some actual REAL healthy options.  Until that happen, I vote we boycott!