Burger King Goes With Less Sodium For Kids
Posted
November 30, 2008 at
5:58 pm by
Kris
Burger King announced last week they’ll be reducing the sodium in meals for kids and in some items for adults in an effort to be, or appear, more healthy.
The nation’s No. 2 hamburger chain said it will now limit sodium in its kids meals advertised to children under 12 years old to 600 milligrams or less.
Virtually every major chain has rid the majority of its menu items, if not all of them, of trans fat, which raises the level of bad cholesterol in the body and can increase the risk of coronary heart disease. Others have added healthier items like salads and yogurt parfaits to their menus, partially marketing to moms looking for lower-calorie options when eating with their kids.
I have to say, I give them credit for at least trying. But really? They could do better.
Burger King and all fast-food chains can do what they like about adding ‘healthy’ to their menus. But after reading Fast Food Nation and watching Super Size Me, I think there are more issues to be addressed other than less sodium and the addition of more nutrients. Perhaps something along the lines of sanitation in the workplace and at the meatpacking plants, food preparation and the relentless advertising thrust at children.
I realize sanitation codes have been more strict than they have been in the past, yet there are still reports of unsanitary conditions. One such example, back in 2003, recounted-
In a groundbreaking report in late 2003, Dateline ranked the top ten fast food chains, and revealed which ones ran up the highest number of critical health code violations. Critical violations are the ones that can make you sick.
Back then, we looked closely at thousands of health inspection reports, and discovered some dirty dining — a worm in a salad, a cockroach in a soda, chewing gum in a taco. Horror stories like these are rare, but about two thirds of the restaurants we reported had at least one critical health code violation in the previous year.
EW.
Whether or not fast food joints are on their way to healthy, I cannot bring myself to grab a Big Mac or a box of Chicken McNuggets. Perhaps it also has something to do with being a fast food weekender when I was younger and just getting burned out on the stuff.
And my daughter? Well, she hasn’t had too much experience with fast food and I intend to keep it that way for as long as possible.
Tags: burger king, fast food, fast food nation, food, super size me |
4 Responses to “Burger King Goes With Less Sodium For Kids”
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1. momof3_ipmod
December 1, 2008 @ 12:13 am
I also think it’s great that they are at least trying but like you said, they could do better. Arby’s, Panara Bread and Subway have really done well in my opinion. Arby’s offers turkey and ham sandwiches with baked chips and choice of milk. Subway offers a sub sandwich with raisins, baked chips and choice of milk. Panara Bread (Bread Co.) offers peanut butter and jelly, ham, turkey or tuna sandwiches with an organic yogurt, baked chips and choice of milk or soft drink. Those are great! More places need to be doing this.
Sanitation is a big one! Those stories make me sick! YUCK! But also kids are becoming overweight, obese and even becoming diabetic because of overindulging in fast food and not so healthy snacks, treats and meals. If we give our children better choices then they can make better choices as they grow up. Fast food restaurants are fast, easy and cheap and that’s great. But if they want people to continue feeding their children these things they need to not only be cutting out sodium but offering healthier choices!
2. Rita
December 1, 2008 @ 2:17 pm
Actually, while I’m not thrilled about the advertisements thrust at children, I don’t really care what the fast food places offer. It’s like butter in the Christmas cookies. You don’t go to Burger King for a healthy meal, you go there because you’re wanting to eat some garbage. So, whatever else they have on their menu may make themselves feel better about what they do, but people aren’t buying it.
I think that our society needs to have some changes in the way it thinks and functions and the demand for places like Burger King will go down. People eat crap because they are stressed (and the high fat, high carb, high sodium diet offered by fast food places releases chemicals into our bloodstream that make us feel better) and we’re in a hurry (nothing to cook, nothing to clean up). I think that if people had slower lives, with less stress and more time to cook and enjoy mealtimes, the demand for fast food would dwindle, and it could be used as an occasional treat when people are in the mood for occasional garbage to eat.
The fast food places are feeding on a problem that’s already there (like that pun?). They are advertising to the young and vulnerable and the advertising works, otherwise they wouldn’t invest so much in it. But, if we’re going to go on a stampede to fix stuff, the problem isn’t the fast food places, it’s the structure of our society and our lifestyles.
We eat fast food maybe once a month. And, believe me, when we do, we want the whole traditional crap-food menu, synthetic shakes included.
3. Hillary
December 1, 2008 @ 3:23 pm
Another problem I see with the McDs and BKs out there … they are cheap. Unfortunately you can get more for your money at the golden arches than at Panera.
I really despise the marketing promos that go with those kids’ meals. Doesn’t Disney have any other marketing options? (rolls eyes)
4. Rick
February 9, 2009 @ 3:02 pm
It’s not surprising that the fast food restaurants are adding seemingly healthy items to their menues. Most people are going to see a ’salad’ on the menu and automatically equate that with healthy. The same goes for the decreased sodium items. Most people won’t look and see that the meals still contain 600 mg of sodium. Is it healthier than it was before? I suppose. But it still seems like just another marketing ploy to me.
I stopped eating at fast food places years ago.