Fast Food Nation to Carb crazy Nation
By Elizabeth Kerrigan, February 26, 2004
http://www.collegian.com/vnews/disp...6/403d9b62e484f
The low-carbohydrate train is pushing through America and just about everyone is jumping on board.
It used to be that a person couldn't turn on the TV, flip a magazine page or pass a billboard without seeing an advertisement for junk food. Today, turn on the TV and the only thing advertised is for low-carb salads at McDonald's, low-carb sandwiches at Burger King and low-carb wraps at Subway. Even the Planter's Peanut is dancing around reminding us that he is a low carb snack, too.
Go into a fast food restaurant today. You'll still the smell of the french fries getting a grease bath in the deep fryer and hear the sizzle of thick, juicy beef patties on the grill, but now there is a new addition - the crunch of crisp, green lettuce. Large pictures make customers stop and think twice about ordering what they really want: a triple cheeseburger, biggie fries and an extra large Coke, and instead order a side salad or tuna wrap.
"We sell a lot of our chicken salads and we also have been selling a lot of side salads in place of fries," said Crystal Galligan, shift leader at Carl's Jr.
Not only is Carl's Jr. selling side salads instead of fries, but they have also changed the one thing that seemed to be a steady member of American society - the almighty and sacred cheeseburger.
"We now sell the Low-Carb Six Dollar Burger, which is wrapped in lettuce instead of a bun," Galligan said. "You can order any sandwich that way though, and we get a lot of people who do."
Americans' heightened interest in dieting and weight loss has forced restaurants to adapt to a new, health-conscious society.
Even places like Pizza Hut and Papa Murphy's Take and Bake have succumbed to the pressure. Papa Murphy's new pizza promises half the carbs and nearly half the calories.
"Our new Thin Crust deLite pizza has definitely upped business. I would say that half of the customers order it," said Justin Campesino, a Papa Murphy's employee.
And the craze doesn't stop here. Not only are fast food restaurants making changes, but so are sit-down restaurants like T.G.I. Fridays. They have teamed up with good old Mr. Atkins to create an entire menu based on low carbs.
"It is an attempt on our part to make sure that we are doing the best job we can to keep our customers happy," said Chris Cosgrove, general manager of T.G.I. Fridays in Colorado Springs. "The world has changed to become much more health conscious and we want to follow in that path. About 25 percent of the food that is ordered here is off of the Atkins menu."
So people looking to satisfy a low-carb diet when they are out and about don't have to go far to find it, but what about the food people buy for their homes? Well, King Soopers seems to have that area covered. From aisle to aisle, it is impossible to miss the diet foods.
"Bread, bagels, syrup, jelly, chips, you name it, we have just about everything you can buy in a low-carb choice," said Vicky Norwood, head clerk of the King Soopers on Harmony.
While Americans appear to be becoming a more health conscious society, it doesn't mean that everyone is putting in the effort they should to stay healthy, said Shirley Perryman, extension specialist in the Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition.
"The decisions that restaurants have made is primarily a business decision because they see that there are a lot of people interested in things like the Atkins diet," Perryman said. "The bottom line for people to stay healthy is to eat things in moderation and exercise. People may get fast results with a low-carb diet, but without changing eating habits for good, and exercising, people will end up where they started, or worse."
"Fast Food Nation to Carb crazy Nation"
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